Congressman Andy Barr is endorsing a challenger to one of his fellow House Republicans from Kentucky.
Barr threw his support Thursday behind Ed Gallrein, who’s running against Congressman Thomas Massie in May’s Republican primary.
Massie has proved to be a persistent antagonist of President Donald Trump, who has endorsed Gallrein, a Shelby County farmer and retired Navy SEAL.
Barr is running in his own primary for the open U.S. Senate seat created by the retirement of former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
Stephen Voss, an associate professor of political science at the University of Kentucky, said McConnell’s potential Republican successors want to align themselves with Trump.
“Wading into the northern Kentucky Fourth District congressional race is another way that these candidates can try to brand themselves as the MAGA Senate candidate,” Voss said.
Trump has not yet made an endorsement in the Senate primary. Besides Barr, candidates include former Attorney General Daniel Cameron and businessman Nate Morris.
Among other ways Massie has crossed Trump, he led a push for the release of files about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and opposed Trump’s signature tax-and-spending legislation last year.
Massie has also been a fierce critic of Trump’s foreign policy, including his support for Israel, the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and attempts to take over Greenland from Denmark.
Morris also endorsed Gallrein on Thursday. Morris has attempted to cast Barr and Cameron as too closely tied to McConnell, who’s also occasionally run afoul of Trump.
Morris’s campaign recently received $10 million from billionaire Elon Musk.
McConnell, 83, is retiring after more than 40 years in the Senate. He’s experienced falls and other health problems in recent years, including a hospital stay this week for flu-like symptoms.
