More than two months ago, president and prolific tweeter Donald Trump turned his legion of social media followers on a fellow Republican: Northern Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie.
Trump called Massie a "third-rate grandstander" and suggested that the former Lewis County judge/executive be thrown out of the Republican Party.
Massie also faced criticism from other Republicans and Democrats for forcing an in-person vote on a coronavirus relief bill priced at $2 trillion.
A fan of Twitter himself, the Northern Kentucky Republican uses the hashtag #SassyWithMassie when he's feeling devious on social media. And when prominent Republicans like Rep. Liz Cheney of Colorado denounced him and threw financial support behind a primary challenger, Massie responded in kind.
An article in The New York Times unearthed tweets from Massie's Republican primary challenger, attorney Todd McMurtry, who gained some national notoriety as one half of the legal team representing Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann in lawsuits against media outlets following coverage of an encounter between students, Native American activists, and Black Hebrew Israelites on the National Mall in January 2019.
The tweets from McMurtry were characterized as racist and transphobic, and Cheney and others quickly reversed course, pulling back their donations and support.
Now, the Massie-McMurtry campaign has an interesting central focus: who will better serve as a Congressman in support of President Trump? Massie references tweets from McMurtry previously denouncing Trump, while McMurtry's own campaign imagery includes a silhouette of Trump's hair.
Meanwhile, Democrats Alexandra Owensby and Shannon Fabert are facing off on the other side of the aisle for a chance to take on the victor of the Republican primary in November.
Cincinnati Edition talks to all four candidates.
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