Yesterday, President Donald Trump carpet bombed some of his most vociferous anti-MAGA RINO opponents. Obstructionist Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost his primary, as did Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who was running for the Republican nomination for Governor.
Along with Raffensperger, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr — another establishment Republican technocrat who defended Georgia’s flawed 2020 election — also failed to make it into the runoff.
Last week, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana failed to even make a runoff in the GOP primary, unable to repair his relationship with the MAGA grassroots five years after voting to convict the President during his second impeachment trial. And earlier this month, Trump successfully dislodged five of seven Indiana Republicans he targeted for voting against his redistricting plan, according to reporting by POLITICO.
We found the Massie defeat to be particularly telling.
As Sean Davis observed in a post to X, Massie went from principled libertarian during COVID, to GOP leadership lapdog under McCarthy, to anti-Trump Epstein obsessive in 2025 after tweeting about that issue a whopping three (3) times in the decade prior. The nail in the coffin for him was voting against One Big Beautiful Bill in 2025 because, according to Massie, it did too much to secure the border.
Massie lost because he went from being perceived as a quirky but lovable nerd who seemed to genuinely believe everything he said, to looking like a clout-chasing influencer who cared more about getting TV time with Democrats on an issue he clearly never cared about until five minutes ago than he did about representing his voters. Massie’s voters didn’t really change all that much, but he did, and they noticed, concluded Sean Davis.
It turns out drinking the Epstein Kool aide is not a very good reelection strategy.
The litany of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s crimes against MAGA are almost too long for this article, most recently he refused to testify under oath about the security of Dominion voting machines, “Instead, the Secretary of State sent a threatening letter to the counties telling them not to allow a forensic examination of the Dominion machines.”
He was also being sued for trying to keep people out of what they call the "bunker" and that is against Georgia law – MAGA voters demand very single phase of the election be completely transparent and Raffensperger did everything he could to stymie that demand.
Raffensperger secured just 14% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, compared to Jones' 37% and Jackson's 34%. Jones is considered the favorite to win the nomination after President Donald Trump endorsed his campaign.
Along with Raffensperger, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr — another establishment Republican technocrat who defended Georgia’s flawed 2020 election — also failed to make it into the runoff.
Last week, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana failed to even make a runoff in the GOP primary, unable to repair his relationship with the MAGA grassroots five years after voting to convict the President during his second impeachment trial. And earlier this month, Trump successfully dislodged five of seven Indiana Republicans he targeted for voting against his redistricting plan, according to reporting by POLITICO.
We found the Massie defeat to be particularly telling.
As Sean Davis observed in a post to X, Massie went from principled libertarian during COVID, to GOP leadership lapdog under McCarthy, to anti-Trump Epstein obsessive in 2025 after tweeting about that issue a whopping three (3) times in the decade prior. The nail in the coffin for him was voting against One Big Beautiful Bill in 2025 because, according to Massie, it did too much to secure the border.
Massie lost because he went from being perceived as a quirky but lovable nerd who seemed to genuinely believe everything he said, to looking like a clout-chasing influencer who cared more about getting TV time with Democrats on an issue he clearly never cared about until five minutes ago than he did about representing his voters. Massie’s voters didn’t really change all that much, but he did, and they noticed, concluded Sean Davis.
It turns out drinking the Epstein Kool aide is not a very good reelection strategy.
The litany of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s crimes against MAGA are almost too long for this article, most recently he refused to testify under oath about the security of Dominion voting machines, “Instead, the Secretary of State sent a threatening letter to the counties telling them not to allow a forensic examination of the Dominion machines.”
He was also being sued for trying to keep people out of what they call the "bunker" and that is against Georgia law – MAGA voters demand very single phase of the election be completely transparent and Raffensperger did everything he could to stymie that demand.
Raffensperger secured just 14% of the vote, according to the Associated Press, compared to Jones' 37% and Jackson's 34%. Jones is considered the favorite to win the nomination after President Donald Trump endorsed his campaign.
