Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie is desperately trying to keep his fight for political survival from becoming a billionaire battleground, even ever-so-slightly suggesting Elon Musk’s tacit support could backfire. 

The embattled GOP congressman, who Trump has called ‘the worst Republican Congressman’, is walking a tightrope as he tries to downplay any suggestion that the world’s richest man might come to his rescue against the president’s personal revenge campaign.

‘It’s important that my race is not a proxy race between Donald Trump and Elon Musk,’ Massie told the Daily Mail, in a bid to keep the race locally focused. ‘Elon Musk has indicated support for my positions, but I don’t think you should read into it.’

After all, Musk’s intrusion into the race could rattle Trump’s cage and remind him of Massie’s transgressions. Massie’s bet is that laying low will leave a president prone to distractions disengaged from the process of trying to recruit a viable opponent.

Despite the attacks levied on him by the slew of MAGA Kentucky advertisements, no real challenger has stepped up to face Massie in the primary. A Trump political adviser told the Associated Press that there is no reason to give Massie an opponent to attack this early in the cycle. 

MAGA Kentucky did not respond to a Daily Mail request for comment on their campaign against Massie.  

Two low-shot candidates have entered the race, but neither has raised any money per Federal Elections Commission records.

Massie, who represents northern Kentucky, has been facing an assault on the airwaves in the Bluegrass State from a billionaire-backed political action committee, MAGA Kentucky. The group has raised $2 million, and spent just under half a million before the June 30th filing federal elections filing deadline. That number will undoubtedly increase after the next quarterly filing, which will be reported after the end of this month.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, speaks during a press conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Tesla CEO Elon Musk listens as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 30, 2025 in Washington, DC. Musk, who served as an adviser to Trump and led the Department of Government Efficiency, left his role the Trump administration to refocus on his businesses

U.S. President Donald Trump pumps his first at the White House on September 29, 2025 in Washington, DC

The attacks stemmed from one vote that Massie took against Trump earlier this summer to oppose the GOP budget bill, which passed right before the July 4th recess. Massie has also led the charge among Republicans for the Epstein files to be released, another thing that has put him in the crosshairs of Trump and most other Republicans on Capitol Hill.

As Massie pointed out in nearly all of the eight stops he made with fellow liberty-minded Republican lawmaker, Senator Rand Paul, over last week, the group fueling the attacks isn’t rooted in Kentucky. 

The top funders of the MAGA Kentucky political advertisements have been Paul Singer, John Paulson, and Miriam Adelson. Although they have backed Trump in recent elections, all three have a history of supporting left-wing causes. None of them reside in the Commonwealth.

Whether in big-city suburbs or rural community centers in areas with no cell phone service over 30 minutes away from a McDonald’s, hundreds of Kentuckians packed Massie and Paul’s meetings this week to standing-room only.

Musk, a former Trump ally turned foe before their miraculous reconciliation at late conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s funeral last Sunday, has been silent.

Musk backed Massie’s, as well as Senator Rand Paul’s, opposition to Trump’s budget bill because he aligned with their view that it was fiscally irresponsible. This, along with calls to release government files pertaining to the former financier and known pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, fractured his and Trump’s relationship.

Musk previously shared on X in July that he would donate to Massie personally. Still, despite his wealth, all individuals are limited to contributions of $3,500 per candidate per election. Massie doesn’t take contributions from PACs, although someone like Musk could set up a group to spend on behalf of Massie without coordinating with his campaign, similar to the MAGA KY group, which has been set up to oppose him. 

But Massie might not need that injection of cash. 

Crisscrossing Kentucky from community centers to coffee shops and chamber meetings last week, Massie and Paul touted their records of standing for principles over partisanship in Washington, particularly when it came to opposing President Donald Trump’s budget bill earlier this summer.

Epstein list to finally be released as new names are set to be announced in Congress Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., speaks during a news conference regarding the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, in Washington

Musk looks on during a news conference with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 30, 2025

A number of local liberty-minded Republicans who serve in the state legislature appeared at Massie’s campaign events last week. Massie backed many of them in their own prior campaigns, and they seemed eager to return the favor, significantly lowering the chance any of them would try to take him on themselves.

Kentucky Rep. Savannah Maddox told a packed ballroom at the courthouse in Burlington, just outside of Cincinnati, that Massie, along with Paul, were the ‘most conservative’ elected officials in the entire nation.

Another legislator, Mark Hart noted that typically, there ‘is a vacuum of principles in politics’, something that he believes Paul and Massie both bring to the table.

Despite finding themselves in Trump’s crosshairs, both Massie and Paul also signaled their loyalty to Trump- even calling him the ‘best president’ of their lifetimes.

The embattled duo pulled out all the stops to showcase their Trump credentials, with Paul boasting he’s ‘one of Donald Trump’s biggest backers’ who ‘defended him through two impeachments.’ 

The senator even bragged about his cozy relationship with Trump, revealing the President called him for a marathon 59-minute conversation trying to flip his budget vote – and that they’ve hit the golf course together ‘on several occasions.’

Massie, facing the more immediate political threat, is also emphasizing his personal bond with Trump, insisting they ‘enjoy a personal relationship’ despite their policy clashes. Both Kentuckians are betting that their public displays of affection for Trump might soften the President’s wrath.

But Paul has a crucial advantage in this loyalty contest – he’s not on the ballot until 2028, giving him plenty of time for Trump’s anger to cool or even his influence to wane as he won’t be on the ballot. Massie, however, faces voters in less than eight months. 

Massie’s not only a rebel, but a cocky one: He says it would take a ‘unicorn’ to mount a credible challenge.