US Politics
Boebert shreds Hegseth for campaigning in Kentucky during Iran war: ‘That’s really difficult to grasp’
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Rep. Lauren Boebert blasted Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for hitting the campaign trail in Kentucky while the war with Iran remains ongoing.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo released Thursday, the Colorado Republican was asked how MAGA voters might view the administration’s emphasis on foreign policy ahead of the midterms.
“These foreign issues that we are facing are not my top priority,” Boebert responded. “I understand that the president is tackling them hard. I praised him for his work in Venezuela, I praised him for the initial strikes in Iran.”
Yet, she said: “It’s really tough to defend all the aspects of this war with Iran currently, especially when we see the Secretary of War doing campaign events in Kentucky, of all places, in the middle of a war. That’s really difficult to grasp.”
Hegseth traveled to the Bluegrass State Monday to campaign for Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL who challenged incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie in Tuesday’s GOP primary, which was widely seen as a litmus test for President Donald Trump’s power within the party. Hegseth stressed that the visit was a personal trip, as federal regulations limit how much campaigning government employees can do.
Massie, a libertarian-leaning MIT-trained engineer, has publicly broken with the president on several key issues — most notably the Epstein files and the Iran war, which he said blatantly violated Trump’s “America First” campaign promise.
In response, the 79-year-old president threw his support behind Gallrein, who has pledged to remain loyal. The race became one of the most expensive primaries in U.S. history, with much of the spending coming from pro-Israel and Trump-aligned groups determined to unseat Massie.
“President Trump does not need more people in Washington who are trying to make a point, especially from his own party,” Hegseth told Kentucky voters on Monday. “He needs people trying to help him win, to vote with him when it matters most.”
“When President Trump needs backup, Massie wants to debate process,” the Pentagon chief said. He later clarified that he was at the campaign event in his “personal capacity.”
Massie ultimately lost to Gallrein, who garnered about 55 percent of the roughly 105,000 votes.
During his concession speech, he took a shot at his opponent, telling a crowd of supporters: “I would have come out sooner but it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv.” In his victory speech, Gallrein thanked Trump for his “support, his endorsement and his counsel” as well as for his “courageous leadership of our nation.”
On Thursday, Boebert told Cuomo she was “sad” to see Massie lose, noting that he is one of her close friends in Congress.
As the race unfolded, the Iran war remained paused under a fragile ceasefire, following multiple failed negotiations. The conflict, which began in February, has engulfed large swaths of the Middle East in violence and spiked global fuel prices. Multiple recent polls indicate a majority of Americans are opposed to the war.
