Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth paused Iran war duties on Monday to take on President Donald Trump's Republican foe, according to reports.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has served seven terms in the House of Representatives for Kentucky, has been a frequent critic of Trump. And now, Hegseth has made a rare move to try to influence the upcoming race for the Bluegrass State's primary on Tuesday, reported The Swamp, a Substack from The Daily Beast.
"Lest we forget, there is a war on," The Swamp reported. "That won’t stop the Defense Secretary (who likes to insist he is the War Secretary even though a legal change of title requires a congressional vote) from taking time out from serving his country to help his boss settle his petty grievances."
Massie has questioned Trump over his ties to late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his Republican values — and in turn the president has attacked the rebel GOP lawmaker for those comments. Massie "could pay the price when the primary ballot in the state’s 4th congressional district opens on Tuesday," according to The Swamp.
"Pentagon Pete Hegseth is flying to Kentucky (supposedly on his own dime) to join Massie’s MAGA/Trump-backed challenger, former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, on stage at lunchtime in Hebron for an America First Works event," according to The Swamp.
"Nobody in D.C. can remember a serving Pentagon chief doing something so overtly political, especially while America was at war," The Swamp reported. "But this is the Trump administration, and all bets are off," The Swamp reported.
Trump has supported candidates who run against Republicans who have challenged him. In Indiana, Trump endorsed four candidates running against incumbent Republican lawmakers who voted against his redistricting demands in the Hoosier State. And in Louisiana, Trump endorsed Rep. Julia Letlow for the Senate, ousting Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) because Cassidy had voted to convict Trump during one of his impeachment hearings in Trump's first administration over the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Letlow will now face off against John Fleming, the state's treasurer and a former Trump administration official, in the runoff election on June 27, according to The Associated Press.
"It’s not looking great for Massie following the bashing another Trump critic, Senator Bill Cassidy, took at the weekend in the Louisiana GOP primary. But if anything could help revive his chances of clinging to his seat, an appearance by the hapless Hegseth might help turn things around," The Swamp reported.