“Thomas Massie” by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Background altered by Ian Golan. Edited version licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. 

On Tuesday, the most expensive U.S. House primary in history will at last reach its conclusion. The fight to unseat Congressman Thomas Massie, a battle between two MAGA factions, Trump loyalists and Trump’s disgruntled former allies, has already burned through more than $25 million in super PAC spending, plus roughly $5.5 million from Massie’s own campaign and $3 million from his opponent’s. 

Much of that money has gone into AI-generated attack ads. One pro-Gallrein super PAC ad shows an AI-generated Massie dining and holding hands with AOC and Ilhan Omar, accusing him of being in a “throuple”. Pro-Massie groups have responded by branding his opponent “Woke Eddie” and depicting the retired Navy SEAL in another AI-generated ad as a soldier abandoning Trump on the battlefield.

By popular reputation, Thomas Massie is treated as a libertarian hero. That image survives because it contains just enough truth to deceive people. He has written in Reason that libertarians should work inside the Republican Party to “reduce the size and scope of the federal government,” and his record includes genuinely libertarian fights against NSA surveillance and the Department of Education. But that reputation collapses under scrutiny.  Massie is an enemy of free markets, an enemy of Western civilisation, and an enemy of genuine survivors of sexual assault.

Russian Massie

Thomas Massie has become one of Washington’s most dependable apologists for the interests of one of the world’s most brutal regimes. He was the sole vote against the Crimea Annexation Non-recognition Act. He repeatedly voted against Ukraine aid. He opposed even symbolic pro-Ukraine resolutions. And while he loves to bask in the glory of anti-paedophile crusading, he somehow still found time to vote against a resolution condemning Russia’s abduction of Ukrainian children. 

Massie has also indulged in prayer breakfasts organised by Russian intelligence for American policymakers. Just imagine how funny this scene must have been. FSB goons bowing their heads in pious prayer. The most cynical Russian psychopaths talking about Christian fellowship, peace, and brotherhood, all while quietly trying to build backchannels into American power. 

Massie did not merely brush against this world accidentally. He later admitted that he met the Russian delegation that attended the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast. That delegation sat inside the broader Butina and Torshin influence operation, which, according to DOJ filings, treated prayer-breakfast access as a route to an unofficial channel with American political circles. One shall praise the Lord and his Moscovite emissaries!

I have to admit, I almost feel sorry for the Russian assets who had to sit through all that evangelical kumbaya, laughing on the inside but denied even a single moment’s release. Of all the torments Moscow could have assigned them, suffering through prayers with Congressman Massie may have been the cruellest. 

If Massie was not already a Kremlin convert before the prayer breakfast, they appear to have worked wonders. Since then, he has echoed some of Moscow’s most absurd talking points with remarkable discipline and has become exactly the sort of American congressman Russian state media loves to quote. He has even urged voters to take seriously the claim that Ukraine had “biolabs,” a crude Kremlin propaganda line used to justify Russia’s war of aggression. 

Jones Act Massie

One of the most damaging pieces of protectionist legislation in the United States is the Jones Act, which requires goods shipped between U.S. ports to travel on U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, and largely U.S.-crewed vessels. In practice, it functions as a hidden tariff on Americans themselves. It raises shipping costs, punishes places like Puerto Rico and Hawaii, distorts energy markets, and protects a tiny shipbuilding lobby at enormous public expense.  Yet this absurd law remains on the books thanks to intense lobbying pressure. As Cato’s Colin Grabow notes, just four Jones Act companies, Matson, Bollinger Shipyards, Saltchuk, and Crowley, spent more than $3 million last year on lobbying and campaign contributions. 

And yet “the most libertarian” congressman is fully behind the law. Massie has even said, “I support the Jones Act even if it’s protectionist.” But there is no free-market defence of this legislation. None. On the merits, his position is baffling beyond belief. 

The more plausible explanation is not intellectual confusion, but public choice. Colin Grabow once described how the Jones Act lobby works in practice: 

“One former congressman explained it to me like this (paraphrasing): “I was elected at 30 years old. After taking office, this group of union reps came to talk to me about a law called the Jones Act, which I was unfamiliar with. They explained that it just means you have to use American-flagged vessels, with American crews, and built in the United States when transporting goods domestically. ‘We think it’s a pretty great law and would appreciate your support for it. By the way, here’s a check for your campaign.’” They also endorsed him — getting the backing of organized labor was not typical for a Republican — and helped get the vote out on election day. Pretty attractive!”

Epstein Massie

Equally disgusting is Massie’s entire involvement in the Epstein saga. As Michael Tracey put it: 

“It’s clear why Massie has chosen to sully himself by aligning with fake “survivors,” extortionist lawyers, and hysteria peddlers to push legislation that wouldn’t even bring about the full disclosure of “Epstein Files” — lots of low-info people online will send him money for it”

Throughout this crusade, Massie has repeatedly run into the same problem: the relentless Michael Tracey keeps catching him misstating facts, exaggerating claims, or amplifying people whose stories do not withstand scrutiny.

Massie has falsely claimed in interviews that certain emails and memos from the 2006–2008 federal investigation into Epstein’s prosecution have not been released, even though Tracey notes that large volumes of those records are already public. He has invoked the existence of a “global paedophile ring” without producing evidence of the pedophilia supposedly uncovered. He has backed a “transparency” bill that, on closer inspection, contained major loopholes, allowing officials to withhold or redact material on grounds such as “victim” privacy or “national defence” and “foreign policy.” He has also promised lists of “child sex traffickers” from survivors that never materialised.

In between press conferences with supposed victims, Massie has been diligently turning the media spotlight into a fundraising opportunity. Given the subject matter, there is no polite way to describe it: he is fundraising off sexual abuse stories. 

And then there is the final red flag: he is a farmer, a man libertarians should naturally be inclined to distrust. 

All this evidence against Massie’s carefully curated image as the lone defender of liberty in Congress does not mean he will face any electoral backlash. If I had the time or patience to jump through Polymarket’s hoops, I would bet that he makes it through the election unscathed, still wearing the crown as the only “libertarian” in the House of Representatives.

At this point, Massie may be one of the best-known representatives in America. He is even unusually well-known abroad. On Tuesday, we may find out that moral panics still sell. At least well enough to win a congressional seat.