The Guardian80%
‘They decided to buy the seat’: Massie speaks out after losing House primary to Trump-backed challenger Ed Gallrein – live 12%
By Maham Javaid0% Tom Ambrose32% Lucy Campbell49% Roque Planas0% Cecilia Nowell0% Chris Stein59% Anna Betts0% Lauren Gambino0% Rachel Savage0%
5/20/2026, 1:06:59 AM
Keywords: Donald Trump, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon, Idaho, Republicans, US Midterm Elections
BS Summary: This article contains 13 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Hasty Generalization, and Hindsight Bias, with Framing Effect as the most egregious example at 40.3% saturation with 561 hits. Analysis detected 1,016 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,392 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 28.8% and a BS Rank of 12% (14,882 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 88.50% of the article peer group.
Former broadcast anchor Janelle Stelson has won the Democratic nomination for Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, teeing her up to take on incumbent Republican congressman Scott Perry in November.
Here’s my colleague Shrai Popat with more context on the race: A group of Republicans in Pennsylvania are relaunching their efforts to unseat Congressman Scott Perry, the fervent Trump ally who represents the state’s 10th congressional district, according to plans first provided to the Guardian.
The “Republicans Against Perry” (Rap) group began in late 2023, backing the congressman’s Democratic opponent, Janelle Stelson, who ended up losing by less than two points in the 2024 election.
Now, Rap is restarting their grassroots campaign on Thursday, which includes a slew of electronic billboards throughout the district.
In an address celebrating his victory, Ed Gallrein said his focus is now “on advancing the president’s and the party’s agenda to put America first, and Kentucky always.”
He also thanked his supporters, military colleagues and the Future Farmers of America.
Lieutenant governor Burt Jones and healthcare executive Rick Jackson will advance to a runoff in the Republican primary for Georgia’s governor’s race.
Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state who defied Trump’s efforts to meddle in the 2020 election, and attorney general Chris Carr were also prominent contenders who did not receive enough votes to proceed to the runoff.
Trump administration officials say they have sent a message with Thomas Massie’s election loss.
“Do not ever doubt President Trump and his political power.
Fuck around, find out”, White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a social media post.
“It’s not a retribution campaign, it’s a send a message campaign,” a senior White House adviser told CNN.
“This is basic political management of a party.
You have to keep everybody on the reservation.
Occasionally you have to shoot a hostage.
The next one is Thomas Massie.”
Thomas Massie has conceded his race for re-election, telling supporters: “We’ve been honorable the whole time and we’re going to stay that way.”
He began his remarks by joking with supporters: “I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.”
Massie also noted that the 2026 midterm elections are on track to be the most expensive elections in US history, with his own race breaking records as the most expensive House primary in history.
“It’s not just the most expensive, this thing went on longer than Vietnam,” Massie said.
“Why did this race get so expensive?
Because they decided to buy the seat.”
As polls close in Alabama and Pennsylvania, here’s a reminder from my colleague Chris Stein of the races we’re watching in both states: Alabama After the supreme court’s ruling last month winnowing the Voting Rights Act and allowing states to eliminate majority-Black congressional districts, Alabama’s Republican leaders quickly moved to implement a new congressional map that is expected to cost Democrats a seat in the House of Representatives.
That required rearranging its primary schedule for House districts, and thus voters on Tuesday will nominate candidates for only three of Alabama’s seven House districts, with primaries for the rest set for August.
The state is heavily Republican, and the most closely watched race is the gubernatorial election to replace Kay Ivey, who is term-limited.
US senator Tommy Tuberville is the frontrunner in the Republican primary, while former senator Doug Jones is expected to take the Democratic nomination.
Congressman Barry Moore is the leading Republ
Ed Gallrein has won the Republican nomination for Kentucky’s fourth congressional District, beating incumbent Thomas Massie.
Trump-backed Gallrein’s victory comes as Kentucky voters have also nominated Trump-endorsed Andy Barr in his race to fill the seat Mitch McConnell will vacate when he retires next year.
Here’s my colleague David Smith with more on Gallrein’s victory: Donald Trump displayed his supremacy over the Republican party on Tuesday when voters in northern Kentucky rejected the maverick congressman Thomas Massie in favour of the US president’s hand-picked challenger.
Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy Seal and farmer who was recruited into the race by Trump, defeated the seven-term incumbent in a primary election in Kentucky’s fourth congressional district in what the president’s allies framed as a test of whether dissent could still exist inside today’s Republican party.
The election took place as voters in five other states – Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama, Oregon and Idaho – w
Addressing lawmakers at a congressional picnic today, Donald Trump echoed remarks he made yesterday at a healthcare affordability event saying preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon was worth shaking up the US economy.
During a 20-minute address, the president also applauded the “Fostering the Future Act” from first lady Melania Trump, and her recent movie Melania; touted an upcoming UFC match planned to take place this summer on the White House’s South Lawn; and echoed his claims that he lost the 2020 election because it “was rigged”.
Senator Bill Cassidy has shared a statement on his decision to side with Democrats in calling for a war powers resolution that could end the war in Iran.
“While I support the administration’s efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the White House and Pentagon have left Congress in the dark on Operation Epic Fury,” Cassidy said in a social media post.
“In Louisiana, I’ve heard from people, including President Trump’s supporters, who are concerned about this war.
Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified.”
Andy Barr has won the Republican nomination to fill the seat longtime Kentucky senator Mitch McConnell will vacate when he retires in January.
Currently serving as one of the state’s congressmembers, Barr was endorsed by Donald Trump and is expected to win the general election this November.
As most polling locations in Georgia close at 7pm local time, the secretary of state’s office says 11 polling places will remain open late due to issues with the electronic poll pads used to check in voters.
The poll sites in Atlanta’s suburbs will remain open between six minutes and one hour later than scheduled, according to a judge’s order.
Another polling location north of Atlanta may remain open several hours longer, pending a judge’s order, after the poll site was closed due to a “law enforcement issue”, according to deputy secretary of state Matt Tyser.
With polls about to close in Georgia, and across the rest of Kentucky, here’s a reminder from my colleague Chris Stein of the races we’re watching in both states: Kentucky The most closely watched race in this deep-red state will be the primary of the Republican congressman Thomas Massie, who has broken with Trump on key issues in his second term and led the charge to release investigative files related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In the latest instance of the president retaliating against lawmakers who challenge his authority, Trump has backed retired US Navy Seal Ed Gallrein in the contest to unseat Massie from the northern Kentucky seat he has held since 2012, leading to the most expensive House primary in history.
Republican voters in Kentucky will also choose their candidate to replace Mitch McConnell, the former Senate GOP leader who is retiring.
The frontrunners to succeed McConnell are congressman Andy Barr and former state attorney general and gubernatorial can
The Pentagon will reduce the number of brigade combat teams assigned to Europe from four to three, according to a social media post from a defense department spokesperson.
“This decision was the result of a comprehensive, multilayered process focused on US force posture in Europe,” said chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
“This analysis is designed to advance President Trump’s America First agenda in Europe and other theaters, including by incentivizing and enabling our Nato allies to take primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defense.”
Parnell added that the decision “is resulting in a temporary delay of the deployment of US forces to Poland”, which he called “a model US ally”.
He said the Polish deputy prime minister had been briefed on the decision, and praised Poland for showing “both the ability and resolve to defend itself”, adding that “other Nato allies should follow suit”.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration has increasingly criticized Nato alli
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