'Some things are still sacred': Many defend Massie's marriage against Trump attack

Austin Horn, Lexington Herald-Leader on Nov 17, 2025

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Many prominent politicians and political figures rushed to the defense of Rep. Thomas Massie over the weekend after President Donald Trump lobbed a personal attack against the Kentucky politician and his new wife.

Across party lines, observers online called Trump’s words sick, disgusting, and even “pure evil.”

Trump, in a late Friday Nov. 14 post to his own social media network, disparaged Massie’s October marriage to Carolyn Moffa, a former staffer for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. He questioned the timing of their marriage, which occurred almost 16 months after the death of his first wife Rhonda, who was married to Massie for 31 years.

“Did Thomas Massie, sometimes referred to as Rand Paul Jr., because of the fact that he always votes against the Republican Party, get married already??? Boy, that was quick,” Trump, who has been married three times, wrote.

Trump ended his post to Truth Social with another insult to the newlyweds.

“Anyway, have a great life Thomas and (?). His wife will soon find out that she’s stuck with a LOSER!”

Trump’s post came just days before the U.S. House plans to vote on a Massie-led effort to force the release of files related to late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Though Trump had been signaling he was against this effort for weeks, he wrote late Sunday that he now supported House Republicans voting for their release, saying “We have nothing to hide.”

Amy McGrath, both a former and current Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, wrote in a post to X that Trump’s words were “just plain wrong.”

“There is just something really wrong with this. I don’t care if you wear a red jersey or a blue one. The lack of decency is stunning. It’s just plain wrong. Why don’t more Kentucky republicans say so,” McGrath wrote, in a post that garnered more than 21,000 likes.

As for Massie’s own response, he recently told the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s trying to “remain gracious,” even though it is “getting harder and harder” as attacks ramp up.

Still, he said he and his wife, Carolyn, are making light of the situation.

“Carolyn and I were cracking up, and she said, ‘See, I told you he was gonna get mad if we didn’t invite him to the wedding,” Massie told the Enquirer.

Jenna Ellis, a conservative radio host and former member of the Trump campaign’s legal team, expressed disappointment with Trump in a social media post.

“To have the kind of deep faith in the Lord, resilience, and courage to find love and joy again in a new season of his life should be met only with deep admiration and encouragement,” Ellis wrote. “The Lord brought him out of his suffering and into a new day. Some things are still sacred and should still be beyond this kind of political mud-slinging.”

Others had harsher words for Trump.

Doug Stafford, chief strategist for Paul, mentioned Trump’s own marital history on X when he called his post “absolutely gross.”

“The President probably should refrain from comparing marriages and personal behaviors in marriage with (Massie) and (Paul), each of whom married the love of their life and are/were good husbands for 30 plus years each. No messy adulterous divorces. No hush money to porn stars to cover up affairs,” Stafford wrote.

Adam Kinzinger, a former GOP congressman known for his opposition to Trump, added to the chorus by calling Trump’s post “beyond the pale” and “pure evil.”

Glenn Greenwald, a high-profile journalist who has criticized politicians on the left and right, called Trump’s post “disgusting,” and like Stafford suggested it was hypocritical.

“Trump’s mocking Massie for re-marrying ‘quick’ after his wife of many decades passed away is disgusting: particularly so for someone who is on his third marriage and started those affairs (and many others) while still married to the prior wife, at home with his young kids,” Greenwald wrote on X.

One prominent Trump supporter on X, Anna Matson, wrote that Trump’s comments were “despicable.”

“This goes well beyond mean tweets. This shows someone’s character,” she wrote. “I’ve supported many Trump policies such as a closed border and the MAHA agenda, but I cannot support protecting Epstein’s clients and attacking a man’s wife for no reason.”

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