Bret Weinstein Unveils New Challenger To Washington’s Uniparty — And It Involves Thomas Massie

Former Evergreen State professor Bret Weinstein announced he is planning to take over the Libertarian Party to advance a presidential campaign for outgoing Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.

Ed Gallrein, a farmer and retired United States Navy SEAL endorsed by President Donald Trump, defeated Massie in May’s Republican primary election for the House of Representatives seat representing Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, receiving 54.4% of the vote, according to The Associated Press. In two clips from the Dark Horse Podcast posted on X Tuesday, Weinstein explained the goal would be to “recruit” Massie after carrying out a “friendly takeover” and rebranding of the Libertarian Party.

“The idea is a friendly takeover of the Libertarian Party,” Weinstein said. “I’m partnering with the Mises Caucus, the sort of hard-headed folks who have libertarian values but are also frustrated by the way the party functions. And the idea is to take over the Libertarian Party and to rebrand it the American Liberty Party.”

Weinstein also said that Massie would be an ideal choice to run as the party’s presidential candidate in 2028, saying he “paid a price” for maintaining “integrity” in Washington, D.C.

“You will notice at the top there is a, we don’t use the term draft Massie here, it says recruit Massie here,” Weinstein said. “So Massie is obviously somebody who has paid a very high price for his integrity in the public sphere. He’s lost a primary with the president and a large amount of money deployed against him and anyway, I am not suggesting that he has signed on to do this. What I am suggesting is that he’s aware of it and is supportive of what we are doing.”

Massie, who was seeking his ninth term in the House of Representatives, was one of four Republican members of the House of Representatives who signed a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act. The bill passed the House with just one “no” vote.

Massie also clashed with the Trump administration on a host of other issues, including the president’s tariff policy, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, and the conflict with Iran. Trump called Massie a “Third Rate Congressman” in a post on Truth Social and supported Gallrein’s primary challenge to the libertarian-leaning representative.

Massie joined former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and former Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in signing an open letter in September criticizing Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over COVID-19 vaccines. Carlson, Massie and Greene met on Aug. to promote a new movement while accusing Trump of betraying voters with the attacks on Iran.

Massie has filed to run in 2028 for the House seat he lost in May.