Rep. Thomas Massie puts his Republican 'brand' against Trump's in Kentucky

Thomas Massie is touting his independence and trying to turn the president into an afterthought as he faces Trump-endorsed Ed Gallrein next month in a tough GOP primary.

WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. — Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., had a friendly crowd, a keynote time slot and the praise of a local state lawmaker who introduced him as the “archetype of conservatism.”

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It wasn’t until 18 minutes into his remarks — which meandered from his days in local government to the drudgery of legislating in Washington, D.C. — that Massie nonchalantly pivoted to President Donald Trump, the man trying to end his career in Congress.

“By the way,” Massie told the roughly 75 people who turned out here last week for the Grant County Republican Party’s Lincoln-Reagan Day dinner, “I vote with the GOP, regardless of what you see on TV, 91% of the time. But in the 9% of the time, if they’re covering up for pedophiles, bankrupting the country or starting another war, I don’t vote that way.”