在备受期待的初选前几天，共和党众议员托马斯·马西(Thomas Massie)发出了挑衅的语气，他在周日声称，外州的亿万富翁“已经在这里投入了数百万美元”，试图在国会“购买一个席位”。
“这场竞选是如何成为国会历史上最昂贵的初选竞选的?因为三个来自肯塔基以外的亿万富翁在这里投入了数百万美元。他们试图买一个座位，”马西在接受美国广播公司新闻“本周”采访时说
周五，马西告诉一名记者，他的“已经变成了一场关于以色列是否可以购买国会席位的公投。”
“本周”节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯就此事追问马西，“你这么说是什么意思?”
马西说，他点名的两个人——共和党主要捐赠者米里亚姆·阿德尔森和保罗·辛格，以及共和党犹太人联盟(RJC)和美国以色列公共事务委员会(AIPAC)，都是“以色列游说团的一部分”
Adelson和Singer都是AIPAC的主要贡献者。
“这是所有资金的来源，这将是一次关于外交政策的全民公决，以色列是否可以通过欺负国会议员来发号施令，你知道，我是他们无法欺负的人，所以他们把所有的压力都放在我身上，”马西说。
马西说他的对手“绝望了”，因为他说他在民意调查中领先。
这位肯塔基州议员说:“这就是为什么总统失眠并在推特上谈论这件事。”
ABC新闻已经联系了RJC、AIPAC、阿德尔森基金会、辛格基金会和辛格投资管理基金，要求对马西的声明做出评论，但尚未收到回应。
美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)多次攻击马西，包括周日上午，在特朗普想从国会驱逐的另一名共和党人路易斯安那州参议员比尔·卡西迪(Bill Clinton)之后周六输掉了初选.
“糟糕的国会议员汤姆·马西投票反对减税、边境墙、我们的军队和执法。事实上，他投票反对几乎所有好的东西。史上最差的共和党议员。肯塔基，周二投票淘汰流浪汉。我们不能再和这个捣蛋鬼一起生活两年了。他是真正的负面力量!!!"特朗普在自己的社交媒体平台上发帖。
马西面临着前海军海豹突击队·埃德·加利温的初选挑战，他甚至在参加竞选之前就已经得到了川普的支持。在10月17日的一篇真实社交帖子中，特朗普表示，他希望盖莱“加入到与马西的竞争中来”;四天后，加利温就这么做了。
这位七届国会议员在白宫的第二个任期内与特朗普发生了冲突。但马西认为他可以克服特朗普的反对赢得这场初选。
“我得到了生命权组织、枪支组织的支持。昨天有四名国会议员来这里和我一起竞选。所以，我的情况(与卡西迪相比)有点不同，”马西说。“此外，我的网站thomasmassie.com收到了来自草根阶层、成千上万名捐赠者的数百万美元捐款。而且还在不断传来。这就是我们打败他们的方法。”
Ahead of Tuesday primary, Trump target Massie says billionaires are trying to 'buy' his seat
Days before his highly anticipated primary, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie struck a defiant tone, asserting on Sunday that out-of-state billionaires "have funneled millions of dollars in here" in an effort to "buy a seat" in Congress.
"How did this race become the most expensive race in the history of Congress for a primary? It's because three billionaires from outside of Kentucky have funneled millions of dollars in here. They're trying to buy a seat," Massie said in an interview on ABC News' "This Week."
On Friday, Massie told a reporter that his has "turned into a referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress."
"This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos pressed Massie on the comment, asking him, "What did you mean by that?"
Massie said that two of the individuals he named -- major GOP donors Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer, along with the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), are "all part of the Israeli lobby."
Adelson and Singer are both major AIPAC contributors.
"That's where all the money comes from, and it will be a referendum on foreign policy, whether Israel gets to dictate that by, you know, bullying members of Congress, and I'm the one they haven't been able to bully, so they're putting all the brunt, the force on me," Massie said.
Massie said his opponents are "desperate" because he says he's ahead in the polls.
"That's why the president is losing sleep and tweeting about this," the Kentucky congressman said.
ABC News has reached out to the RJC, AIPAC, Adelson's foundation, Singer's foundation and Singer's investment management fund to request comment in response to Massie's statements, but has yet to receive a response.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked Massie, including on Sunday morning, after another Republican who Trump wanted to oust from Congress -- Louisiana's Sen. Bill Cassidy --lost his primary on Saturday.
"Bad Congressman Tom Massie voted against Tax Cuts, the Border Wall, our Military and Law Enforcement. Actually, he voted against almost everything that is good. The Worst Republican Congressman in History. Kentucky, vote the bum out on Tuesday. We can’t live with this troublemaker for another two years. He is a true negative force!!!" Trump posted on his social media platform.
Massie is facing a primary challenge from former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, who was endorsed by Trump before he even entered the race. In an Oct. 17 Truth Social post, Trump said he hoped Gallrein "gets into the Race against Massie"; four days later, Gallrein did just that.
The seven-term congressman has clashed with Trump throughout his second stint in the White House. But Massie argued he can overcome Trump's opposition to win this primary.
"I have the endorsement of the right to life organizations, the gun organizations. I had four members of Congress come here yesterday and campaign with me. So, my situation is a little bit different [than Sen. Cassidy's]," Massie said. "Plus, I’ve had millions of dollars come in from the grassroots, tens of thousands of donors, to my website, thomasmassie.com. And it’s still coming in. And that’s how we’re going to beat them."
