Lame duck Rep. Thomas Massie accused Sen. Ted Cruz of acting as a pawn for “big tech cronies” on Wednesday, a day after Massie lost his Kentucky primary to President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate, Ed Gallrein. The fight played out publicly on X after Cruz
Thomas Massie didn’t wait long after losing his Kentucky primary.
On Wednesday, the lame duck Republican congressman went after Sen. Ted Cruz on X. accusing the Texas senator of standing in step with “big tech cronies” and targeting Cruz over an artificial intelligence dispute from last year. The outburst landed a day after Massie lost his primary to President Donald Trump’s preferred candidate, Ed Gallrein.
Massie’s post came as a direct response to Cruz. The Texas senator had responded the night before on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program, warning that GOP lawmakers have a “real problem” if they go against Trump. Cruz singled out Massie as an example.
“The stakes are too high. We’re not screwin’ around, this is not a game. If you want to just criticize everything, go write an op-ed online, go write a blog online,” Cruz said. “But if you’re going to take a congressional seat… with the excruciating narrow vote. we can’t mess around with this. We’ve got to deliver real results.”.
Cruz then turned around the message the following day, posting on X: “The people of Kentucky spoke loud and clear last night. They want fighters who will deliver real results, and time and again, Thomas Massie stood in the way.”
Massie responded by framing his own record as a check on efforts he says benefited major technology companies. He said he was “happy to have thwarted some artificial intelligence legislation” Cruz pushed last year.
“I proudly stood in the way of your AI-data center amendment to the Big Beautiful Bill that would have given those companies immunity from the law. ” Massie wrote. “In fact, [Marjorie Taylor Greene] and I got it stripped from the bill. Did your big tech cronies still let you cash their checks after you failed?”.
Massie and Greene have been aligned on other issues as well. including calls for the Justice Department to release more files on dead sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. They have also been willing to split publicly with Trump on issues. Massie has been one of the two Republicans representatives who voted against Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” last year. and he has accused Trump of getting “dragged” into the Iran war by Israel.
The feud between these figures isn’t happening in a vacuum. Trump grew sick of Greene’s complaints last year and branded her a “traitor.” He also celebrated her quitting Congress last fall, calling it “great news” for the country.
More recently, Trump’s attention has turned to making sure Massie loses his own primary. The president called Massie the “Worst Congressman” in U.S. history and urged Kentuckians to back “true American Patriot” Ed Gallrein instead. Voters did what Trump wanted on Tuesday night, setting up Massie to be out of Congress in early 2027.
For Cruz, the lesson is about delivering results. For Massie, the fight is about who those results are really serving—especially when it comes to artificial intelligence policy and the companies he says were poised to gain legal protection.
Thomas Massie Ted Cruz Ed Gallrein Kentucky primary Donald Trump Big Beautiful Bill AI-data center amendment Marjorie Taylor Greene Jeffrey Epstein files Iran war Sean Hannity Fox News X
So basically they’re fighting on X again? Coolcool.
I don’t even get it, Massie lost the primary and now he’s blaming Cruz like that changes anything. If Trump picked the other guy then… idk, seems like sour grapes. Also AI data center amendment?? sounds like a buzzword to me.
Wait he says Cruz is a pawn for big tech cronies but Cruz literally called out Massie for “standing in the way” like… that’s literally the whole point of politics? lol. And the AI thing from last year, wasn’t that just about some dumb vote? I’m not saying who’s right, I just feel like everybody’s acting like it’s the end of the world.
Massie blaming Cruz feels predictable. Like once you lose, you gotta find a villain, and “big tech cronies” is the easiest one. The article says AI data center amendment—okay but did it actually affect people in Kentucky or is this just DC theater? Hannity already warned GOP folks about “going against Trump,” so now Cruz’s basically gonna punish everybody. I’m tired of all of them.