{"id":82079,"date":"2026-05-22T11:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/82079\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:22:32","slug":"hegseth-backs-gallrein-in-final-push-before-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/82079\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth backs Gallrein in final push before primary"},"content":{"rendered":"

HEBRON, Ky. \u2014\u00a0In the final hours ahead of the primary, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared in Northern Kentucky to throw his support behind Republican Ed Gallrein.<\/p>\n

What You Need To Know<\/p>\n

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appeared in Northern Kentucky on Monday to support Republican Ed Gallrein
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Gallrein is challenging incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky\u2019s 4th Congressional District primary
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Hegseth said the Trump administration is backing Gallrein because it wants stronger support in Washington
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The race has become a nationalized test of Massie\u2019s willingness to break with President Donald Trump<\/p>\n

Gallrein faces incumbent Thomas Massie in a race that has become highly nationalized.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking Monday afternoon in front of a crowd of around 100 people, Gallrein highlighted the backing of the Trump administration and why, he said, it is supporting him instead of his opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ed Gallrein spent the day before the primary election stumping with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Spectrum News 1\/Mason Brighton)<\/p>\n

\u201cI came home from wars and I looked at Washington and the misrepresentation of our values, and I said, somebody’s got to do something that just well be me,\u201d Gallrein said.<\/p>\n

Hegseth made clear why the administration is backing Massie\u2019s opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump does not need more people in Washington who are trying to make a point, especially from his own party. He needs people willing to help him win, to vote with him when it matters the most,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

Massie has broken from fellow Republicans on issues like foreign aid and the Iran war, and has previously said he considers this race a referendum that will test whether critics of the president can stay in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen conservatives are fighting the most radical left in American history, too often massie\u2019s instinct is to throw elbows at fellow Republicans,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

Massie is seeking an eighth term in Congress and rose to national notoriety last year with his work to release a trove of documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n

Gallrein, whose congressional bid is his second venture into politics, has run a campaign focused on backing the president.<\/p>\n

His remarks Monday focused on his military career and support for the president\u2019s vision for the U.S. armed forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cKentucky has a choice in this race. You can send a warrior, reinforcements for the president in our shared fight against the radical left. Or you can send an obstructionist,\u201d Hegseth said.<\/p>\n

Massie has faced little opposition in every other primary he has been in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HEBRON, Ky. \u2014\u00a0In the final hours ahead of the primary, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth appeared in Northern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[120],"tags":[11246,6667,45716,2149,11248,883,747,45715,11242,746,45714,50,11244,18,51,3241,2150],"class_list":["post-82079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pete-hegseth","tag-app-latest-local-state-politics-stories","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-local-elections","tag-app-top-stories","tag-bowling-green","tag-election","tag-kentucky","tag-ky-in-line-video-player","tag-lexington","tag-louisville","tag-mason-brighton","tag-news","tag-northern-kentucky","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116617972674477419","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}