TEHRAN — Thomas Massie needed nine words. “Republicans hit a wall because they kissed The Wall,” the Kentucky Republican wrote on X on November 7, just days after his party lost Congress. The post quietly racked up over 6 million views not long after, the sort of number that makes you raise an eyebrow.
Massie was ousted in May by a primary that AIPAC-linked groups helped make the costliest in House history. He has said that every Republican, but him, has an “AIPAC babysitter.”
The Wall is the Western Wall in al-Quds (Jerusalem), a near-mandatory stop for American delegations. Donald Trump became the first sitting president to visit in 2017, laying a hand on the stones and wedging in a note.
Mike Pence, Marco Rubio and Speaker Mike Johnson followed, and Kristi Noem wrote in the guest book that “Israel is the chosen nation.”
David Friedman, Trump’s first ambassador, was photographed kissing the stones, as were NYC’s Eric Adams and Argentina’s Javier Milei.
JD Vance was photographed there in a white kippah in 2022, then skipped it as vice president in October 2025 during his trip to Israel, taking Mass at the Holy Sepulchre instead.
Voters sent it. Democrats took the Senate with at least 54 seats, flipping Maine, Ohio, Iowa, and Texas, and the House with roughly 254, a gain of 42.
Vance posted that “the reason we lost is the war,” listing four causes: Iran, living costs, failure to put America first, and the Israel relationship.
Trump called that “largely true,” then said he would do it again. ABC’s voter poll put the war as crucial for 34 percent, behind corruption at 55 and prices at 49, so Vance’s certainty outruns the data.
The war’s tab does not: more than $47 billion, at least 21 Americans dead, nearly $2,000 per household by Moody’s estimate. The war on Iraq cost Republicans both chambers in 2006.
On election day, Trump claimed Washington would wind down roughly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by year’s end.
Massie called it “a desperate election day lie” and “pennies on the dollar” against more than $50 billion spent on the war “on behalf of Israel,” a figure above the Pentagon’s own $47 billion.
Tucker Carlson, who calls it “Israel’s war,” apologized in April for having “misled” voters into backing Trump. Marjorie Taylor Greene said Vance and Trump should have listened to her and Carlson.
Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist that Carlson hosted in October 2025, told his loyal base of followers (“groypers”) in March: “Do not vote in the midterms, and if you do, vote Democrat.” On election day, he posted: “Get out and vote Democrat today.”
The two have turned on each other. Carlson implied Fuentes is a “fed,” while Fuentes calls Carlson “most likely some form of intelligence asset,” citing his father’s government career.
The reactions to Massie’s post have been ugly. Rep. Randy Fine quote-posted Massie with a meme stamped “LOSER.” John Podhoretz wrote, “He’s like openly a Nazi.”
James Fishback, who has embraced the groypers, questioned Fine’s loyalty to America. Fine has called Carlson “the most dangerous antisemite in America.”
The Chicago Council’s July survey put American favorability toward Israel at 44 out of 100, down from 58 in 2022, the lowest since 1978. 56 percent want aid cut or stopped. Republicans still score Israel at 62, but Gen Z and Millennial Republicans sit at 48 against 65 for older ones.
Gallup found Americans sympathizing more with Palestinians than Israelis, 41 to 36, for the first time since 2001. Only 28 percent of Republicans under 35 view Israel’s government favorably, Pew found.
AIPAC has claimed that being pro-Israel is “good policy and good politics.”