Though it sports a Kentucky- and MAGA-branded name, the new Super PAC launched solely to support a primary challenge against popular Republican Congressman Thomas Massie is funded entirely by three Israel-backing billionaires from Nevada, New York and Florida, according to disclosure filings posted on Thursday.
The super PAC was launched in June, just days after President Trump threw a social media tantrum over Massie's condemnation of Trump's commitment of US forces to Israel's war on Iran. Massie has long been a thorn in Trump's side on domestic issues too, from opposing the $2 trillion, Trump-backed Covid-19 "relief package" in 2020 to voting against this year's Big Beautiful Bill. However, Massie's opposition to US involvement in Israel's war seemed to have been the last straw. Trump assigned his top political operatives Tony Fabrizio and Chris LaCivita to start and run the super PAC. LaCivita told Axios the entity will spend "whatever it takes" to oust Massie.
The PAC's only three donors have two things in common: they're billionaires, and they're ardent supporters of Israel. According to the PAC's first funding disclosure filed with the Federal Election Commission on Thursday, it has received:
The PAC is called "MAGA Kentucky," a name that's misleading on two levels. Not only are its funders not Kentuckians, their principal motive for destroying Massie is his opposition to US bankrolling of Israel and participation in its wars. That is anything but a MAGA motive. As Trump recently told a prominent Jewish donor, "My people are starting to hate Israel.”
MAGA Kentucky has already started running misleading attack ads that cherry-pick items from the sprawling Big Beautiful Bill and accuse Massie of voting "against" them, and also accuse him of "siding" with Iran's ayatollah:
In addition to opposing aid to Israel, Massie has also voted against legislation designed to stop Americans from criticizing Israel. The Antisemitism Awareness Act would use an expansive definition of antisemitism to expose universities to federal enforcement action if students voiced opposition to Zionism -- a political philosophy -- or compared the actions of Israel's government to those of Nazi Germany.
In April, Massie introduced the Dual Loyalty Disclosure Act, which would require candidates for federal office to disclose any non-American citizenships they hold. Advocates of Israel swiftly accused him of antisemitism, but Massie said his measure doesn't target any specific country. "We swear an oath to the Constitution, and the question is, if you're a citizen of two countries, which oath are you taking more seriously, or can you take them both seriously?" Massie asked Fox's Will Cain.
First elected to Congress in 2012 and consistently advocating for fiscal discipline, the right of armed self-defense, and a non-interventionist foreign policy, Massie has built a large and loyal national following among the libertarian right and other conservatives, with many regarding him as the congressional successor to the iconic Ron Paul. In his latest aggravation of Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, Massie is leading the drive to compel the release of Epstein investigative files. He has introduced a discharge petition that's predicted to secure enough signatures to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA H.Res. 581), which he introduced with Democratic California Rep. Ro Khanna.
With Georgia GOP Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene recently introducing an amendment to remove military aid to Israel from the defense bill, and accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, don't be surprised to see a "MAGA Georgia" PAC created to oust her, too -- funded by a similar cast of Israel-first characters. In the meantime, the drive to take out Massie is having unintended consequences: