Trump and Kentucky Republicans are uniting against Massie. He could still win.

Thomas Massie took the microphone and cut right to the point. President Donald Trump was against him. But Massie had battled for gun owners and had the support of the National Association for Gun Rights to prove it. He said he had local farmers' backs with a bill that would ease meat processing requirements.

"These are the kind of things that I fight for," he told the room of Republican activists that had gathered in a mess hall near the banks of the Ohio River south of Cincinnati to hear from local candidates on a dreary Saturday afternoon. "I will fight for you."

Randy Berling disagreed.

"He's a Democrat in a Republican hat. ... He takes credit for stuff that he says he's a part of, but everybody knows he's not," Berling, a Republican from nearby Melbourne, said as he headed for the door after the speech. Who did he plan to vote for in the May 19 primary? "Not this guy."