Thomas Massie's Enemies Are Attacking Him With an Unfair Accusation

Thomas Massie

Thomas Massie's Enemies Are Attacking Him With an Unfair Accusation

Partisan political actors have seized on a vague and unsupported "hush money" allegation.

Robby Soave | 5.15.2026 12:49 PM

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Thomas Massie (Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/Newscom)

Rep. Thomas Massie (R–Ky.) is fighting for his political life. Next week, voters in his district will decide whether to retain the long-serving libertarian Republican—or whether to fall in line with President Donald Trump, who is furious with Massie for opposing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Trump tariffs, and the administration's increasingly neoconservative foreign policy agenda. Trump has endorsed Massie's opponent, Ed Gallrein.

In their quest to unseat Massie, the congressman's enemies have surfaced a desperate, unfair, and vague accusation of personal wrongdoing. Cynthia West, a former girlfriend of Massie, has alleged that he paid her $5,000 in "hush money." That term now appears in countless headlines alongside Massie's name: "Thomas Massie's ex accuses him of hush money offer," writes Axios. Other headlines note that Massie denies the charge. But we know how this game is played: The mere hint of impropriety may very well taint him in the eyes of the voters.

Yet those who are foisting this hush money accusation on the public are engaged in pathological dishonesty. There is simply no substance to it. This is a filthy political hit job designed to punish one of the only Republicans who voted in line with candidate Trump's pledged political agenda—"no new wars"—rather than the big government monstrosity this second term has wrought.

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