On May 17, 2026, George Stephanopoulos hosted Republican Representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky on ABC’s This Week. As if it were totally normal discourse and not based on antisemitic conspiracy theories, the host asked the congressman about the upcoming primary election and what Massie meant when he previously described the race as a “a referendum on whether Israel gets to buy seats in Congress.”
During the interview, Massie restated his allegation that Israel was trying to do just that, and argued Israel was dictating American foreign policy and bullied members of Congress, without providing a scintilla of evidence.
Approximately two months after Oct. 7, 2023, while American citizens were being held hostage in Gaza by Hamas, Rep. Massie posted this meme on the social media platform X.
Stephanopoulos had no reaction to these classically antisemitic, bombastic statements. Such allegations, which echo tropes from 120-year-old Russian antisemitic propaganda accusing Jews of controlling the world through shadowy cabals, have become more common on the far right, though some on the far left have made similar antisemitic claims. Last month, Reps. Lawler and Gottheimer (Republican and Democrat, respectively), co-authored a resolution condemning antisemitic, hate-filled rhetoric. One of the examples they gave was Candace Owens’ conspiracy theories about Israel controlling the United States government – the very same trope Massie was permitted to spew on air, with no pushback from Stephanopoulos.
Massie told ABC that the RJC (Republican Jewish Coalition), AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer were all “part of the Israeli lobby” funding his primary challenge. While Miriam Adelson is Israeli-American, she moved to the United States in 1986 and has lived here for 40 years. Paul Singer is American. Both AIPAC and RJC are American organizations supported by American citizens. No doubt purposefully substituting “Israel” for Americans and American organizations supportive of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, Massie notably did not mention Christians United for Israel, who spent six figures on a billboard campaign against him or the MAGA KY super PAC working to support his opponent – referring only to Paul Singer, who donated to the PAC. The only ones he blamed were two Jewish people, one Jewish organization, and a PAC known traditionally to have Jewish leadership.
AIPAC is funded by Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, and not just Jews. Its supporters are those who believe a strong U.S.-Israel relationship is important. AIPAC does not receive funding from the Israeli government. This, however, did not stop Massie from introducing the “AIPAC” Act (“Americans Insist on Political Agent Clarity” Act) on May 14, 2026, which he believes would require AIPAC to register as a foreign agent. A careful reading of the bill reveals that AIPAC would not meet his own proposed Act’s criteria.
One must ask: why the focus on AIPAC, anyway? There are other organizations similar to AIPAC, such as USINPAC (United States India Political Action Committee), FAPA (Formosan Association for Public Affairs – lobbies for robust defense commitments for Taiwan), HALC (Hellenic American Leadership Council – advocates for Greek-American and Cypriot-American interests), and ANCA (Armenian National Committee of America). There are also the Cuban-American, Irish, Turkish, Ukrainian and Iranian lobbies. Massie did not name his proposed bill after any of those groups, though.
The congressman boasted he was the sole member of Congress Israel has not been able to bully. Massie asserted that his refusal to submit prompted heavy investment against his re-election. Conflating Israel with his own definition of the “Israeli lobby,” he said, “they’re desperate.” As evidence, he cited to President Trump’s anti-Massie tweets and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth coming to his district. He did not explain why he believed President Trump or the Secretary of War to be part of the “Israeli lobby,” and Stephanopoulos bizarrely failed to ask.
As Jonathan Tobin rightly argued on May 18, 2026, in Jewish News Syndicate (JNS), Massie has delegitimized not only the U.S.-Israel alliance, but also the right of American supporters of Israel to have their voice heard in American elections. And Massie is not just anti-Israel. In 2022, as Tobin reported, Massie was the lone congressperson to vote against a symbolic resolution condemning Jew-hatred. He has opposed other efforts to express solidarity with the Jewish community since then.
More recently, in an attack ad against his primary challenger, Ed Gallrein, a PAC supporting Massie depicted Paul Singer as overshadowed by a rainbow pride flag with a Star of David. Singer is Jewish, has a gay son, and supports gay rights. Massie did not denounce the ad. Stephanopoulos did not ask Massie about that, either.
Stephanopoulos’ inability or unwillingness to challenge Massie’s statements about Israel and/or the so-called “Israeli lobby” has worked to normalize Massie’s inflammatory rhetoric. It has allowed antisemitic conspiracy theories to run unchecked on ABC. The network should know better.