May 17 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated attacks on intraparty critic Representative Thomas Massie reflect a “desperate” attempt to help his opponent in Tuesday’s Kentucky primary, the lawmaker said Sunday.
• Trump has targeted Massie, a Republican who has defied the president in Congress over major legislation and the Iran war and led his party’s drive to release government files on the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
• Massie is facing Trump-backed candidate Ed Gallrein, a former U.S. Navy SEAL whom the president hand-picked. Some polls show Massie ahead; others show Gallrein with a lead.
• Trump, who has posted social media attacks on Massie at least four times this weekend, on Sunday called Massie “The Worst Republican Congressman in History” and a “a true negative force!!!”
• The president on Saturday criticized Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, over her support for Massie and said he would welcome a primary challenger to her.
• Trump’s retribution campaign against Republicans who have defied him has been successful. Two-term Republican U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy lost his bid for re-election in Louisiana’s primary on Saturday.
• But Massie poses a new test for Trump’s hold on the Republican Party. Massie, in an appearance Sunday on ABC’s This Week, said he gets a fundraising boost each time Trump mentions him on social media and speculated that the president is “desperate” to get rid of him.
(Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Sergio Non and Chizu Nomiyama)
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