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FIRST ON FOX – A former longtime Navy SEAL and fifth-generation Kentucky farmer who’s backed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday declared his candidacy within the state’s 4th Congressional District, as he challenges Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in subsequent 12 months’s GOP major.
“I’ve devoted my life to serving my nation, and I’m able to reply the decision once more,” Ed Gallrein mentioned in a press release shared first with Fox Information Digital.
And pointing to Massie, a frequent GOP critic of the president throughout his second time period within the White Home, Gallrein emphasised, “This district is Trump Nation. The President doesn’t want obstacles in Congress – he wants backup. I’ll defeat Thomas Massie, stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, and ship the America First outcomes Kentuckians voted for.”
The marketing campaign launch comes 4 days after Trump took to social media to reward Gallrein, urge him to run, and blast Massie.
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Consultant Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, arrives for a information convention outdoors the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025 (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg by way of Getty Pictures)
Trump argued that Massie was a “Third Price Congressman,” a “Weak and Pathetic RINO,” and a “completely ineffective LOSER who has failed us so badly.”
And the president applauded Gallrein, calling him a “Courageous Fight Veteran” and a “very profitable Businessman” who, if elected to Congress, would “struggle tirelessly to Hold our now very Safe Border, SECURE, Cease Migrant Crime, and Defend our at all times below siege Second Modification.”
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Trump’s social media publish included a photograph of himself and Gallrein holding pink MAGA hats within the Oval Workplace.
Gallrein served three many years in uniform, rising to the rank of Captain. In keeping with his marketing campaign bio, he served a number of instances on SEAL Group SIX, deploying to Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and earned 4 Bronze Stars and two Presidential Unit Citations.

Ed Gallrein, left, seen with President Donald Trump within the Oval Workplace on the White Home, on Tuesday launched a congressional bid to major problem Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Gallrein’s marketing campaign launch comes 4 days after Trump backed him and urged him to run. (Ed Gallrein congressional marketing campaign)
His marketing campaign launch additionally highlighted that “Gallrein’s roots run deep in Kentucky.” He was born and raised within the state. And his household, which has farmed for over a century, constructed Kentucky’s largest dairy farm and Gallrein Grain Farms, one of many state’s largest grain operations.
Massie took intention at Gallrein following Trump’s social media endorsement, calling him a “failed candidate and institution hack,” as he pointed to Gallrein’s unsuccessful run final 12 months for the state Senate.
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“After having been rejected by each elected official within the 4th District, Trump’s consultants clearly pushed the panic button with their alternative of failed candidate and institution hack Ed Gallrein,” Massie mentioned in a press release to Politico. “Ed’s been begging them to choose him for over three months now.”
Trump began concentrating on Massie for ouster earlier this 12 months over the seven-term lawmaker’s opposition to the “One Large Lovely Invoice,” which handed the GOP-controlled Congress early in the summertime practically solely alongside celebration strains. The sweeping GOP megalaw is the president’s main legislative achievement since returning to the White Home.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) throughout a information convention with alleged victims of disgraced financier and intercourse trafficker Jeffrey Epstein outdoors the U.S. Capitol on September 3, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures)
Massie can be main the push, together with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California, in forcing a Home flooring vote to induce the discharge of the Justice Division’s information on the late convicted sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a transfer the White Home and Home GOP leaders have aimed to counter. Massie is on the verge of reaching the wanted 218 signatures to drive the vote.
Two prime Trump political advisers — 2024 co-campaign supervisor Chris LaCivita and pollster Tony Fabrizio — in June launched an excellent PAC that goals to defeat Massie. Practically $2 million has been spent already to run TV advertisements concentrating on Massie.
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However Massie has used the assaults from Trump and his allies to spice up fundraising, hauling in additional than $750,000 the previous three months, which was the very best fundraising quarter of his congressional profession.
Massie’s district, within the northeastern a part of the state, contains Louisville’s japanese suburbs and Cincinnati’s Kentucky suburbs.