Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is fighting back against his Never Trumper primary opponent in the Republican Party, exposing writings from establishment-backed lawyer Todd McMurtry that he calls “alt right.”
Some of the controversial statements McMurtry has made include his assertion about the “need to push back against demonization of white people” in a December 2019 tweet. He also said that white people “should not be willing scapegoats for someone else’s agenda.”
While those sentiments may seem relatively benign, his inflammatory remarks do not end there. In another tweet, McMurtry made insensitive remarks toward Mexicans by opining that “some cartel-looking dude is playing a video of some wild Mexican birthday party at full volume” in an airport and used his anecdote as proof that “we should question unlimited immigration. We just cannot integrate so many people.”
Back in 2016, McMurtry tweeted a blog titled, “A Very Brief Primer on Being Alt Right.” The blog bashed certain conservatives as “cowards” for being afraid of being labeled as “racist, sexist, homophobic.”
“Let’s see them start telling the truth about transsexualism being a mental illness, or about the implication of IQ disparities between different racial groups,” the blog read.
Massie feels that these sentiments should disqualify McMurtry from being a lawmaker in the GOP.
“He has views on race and culture and ethnicity that I don’t think have a place in the G.O.P.,” Massie said.
“But maybe Liz has a different plan for the party, and maybe she thinks backing an alt-right candidate would curry favor with part of the conference,” he added – referring to the support of neocon Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) for his opponent.
McMurtry’s campaign is refusing to take responsibility for their candidate’s statements and are instead attacking Massie for drawing attention to them.
Jake Monssen, who works as the campaign manager for McMurtry, claims that Massie is “so desperate to save his failing campaign he’s now taking plays from the left and trying to smear Todd McMurtry with false, personal attacks,” adding that Massie “is willing to say anything against those with a different viewpoint, regardless of facts.”
However, Rep. Cheney feels there is some basis to Massie’s criticism of McMurtry. She is now demanding that McMurtry return her donation to his campaign because she cannot support a candidate with his views on race.
“We as Republicans must not condone racism in any form,” Cheney wrote in a Twitter post. “Last night I was alerted to tweets by a candidate to whom my political action committee made a contribution. After reviewing the tweets, I asked that the contribution be returned.”
This also makes it less likely that President Donald Trump, who recently trashed Massie for attempting to hold up a coronavirus bailout vote, will come out and support McMurtry’s efforts publicly.
“The only way that my opponent could get any traction was to get support from President Trump,” Massie said.
Massie is not going to bow out of Congress without a fight, and now even the establishment is bailing on his disingenuous competitor.
