When it comes to Israel, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has a problem with the truth — and his latest falsehood takes direct aim at one of conservative media’s most beloved institutions.
On May 22, 2026, fresh off a stinging primary defeat, Massie took to social media to amplify tweets claiming that The Charlie Kirk Show is run by a “registered foreign agent of Israel.” It was a calculated smear, and completely false.
Here’s exactly how Massie’s lie falls apart, piece by piece.
The Wound That Started It All
Andrew Kolvet, longtime host of The Charlie Kirk Show, went on air following Massie’s recent primary loss and said that while Charlie Kirk had once supported Massie, he would not do so today. For Massie, that was enough to unleash the go-to accusation that whoever disagrees with him is somehow “controlled by Israel.”
Kolvet himself went on record calling Massie’s claim false.
Following the Money — All the Way to a Dead End
The Charlie Kirk Show was launched in 2019 by Kolvet and Charlie Kirk and distributed through Salem Media, a major conservative Christian media network. In January 2025, Salem brought on Brad Parscale — the former Trump campaign manager and advisor — as its Chief Strategy Officer. Parscale is Christian, conservative, and pro-Israel.
That September, Parscale signed a $9 million public relations contract with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, tasking his firm, Clock Tower X, with running a pro-Israel messaging campaign. Because U.S. law requires anyone working on behalf of a foreign government to disclose that relationship, Parscale registered Clock Tower X under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).
Here’s where Massie’s entire argument self-destructs:
- Clock Tower X has no affiliation with Salem Media. They are entirely separate entities.
- Most critically — The Charlie Kirk Show isn’t even on Salem Media anymore. In December 2025, four months after Charlie Kirk was murdered, the show moved to Real America’s Voice (RAV), which is its current distributor.
In other words, even if every premise of Massie’s claim were true — which it isn’t — the show he was targeting had already left the network in question.
A Selective Outrage
Perhaps the most revealing part of Massie’s smear is not what he said, but what he has never said.
It is hardly unusual for political strategists to register as foreign agents. It happens constantly, across administrations, across parties. Yet Massie has never once raised his voice about:
- Jason Miller, another former Trump advisor, whose firm SHW Partners is a registered foreign agent of the Indian government.
- General Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Adviser, who retroactively registered under FARA on behalf of Turkey.
- Richard F. Hohlt, a longtime lobbyist and registered foreign agent of Saudi Arabia — whom President Trump appointed to the Commission on White House Fellowships in 2017.
The pattern is impossible to ignore. When foreign influence involves India, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, or any other country, Massie is silent. When he can attach the word Israel to a media outlet that recently embarrassed him, suddenly foreign agency becomes an urgent national crisis.
The Bottom Line
Thomas Massie still hasn’t abandoned the anti-Israel obsession that may have contributed to his recent primary defeat. Now he’s targeting Charlie Kirk’s legacy, pushing accusations to his followers without a shred of factual support.
The show had already left the network. The firm was never affiliated with the network. And the individual Massie pointed to wasn’t even the registered agent — his company was.
Every link in Massie’s chain of accusation falls apart under basic scrutiny.
What remains is the smear itself — and the question of why, among the countless foreign agents and influence operations in Washington, Massie seems fixated on only one country.
Sources
X, Salem Media, Real America’s Voice, Axios, FARA, The Economic Times, Wiley, Public Integrity
