Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stopped wanting endorsing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) for reelection on Tuesday, days after President Trump threatened to again a major challenger for the GOP lawmaker — the most recent jab within the long-running feud between the 2 Republicans.
The lukewarm response follows days of Trump attacking Massie on social media after the Kentucky Republican voted towards the occasion’s “big, beautiful bill” final month and stated the president’s strikes on Iranian nuclear services over the weekend had been “not Constitutional.”
On Sunday, nevertheless, Trump escalated his rhetoric, vowing to marketing campaign “hard” for a major challenger to Massie, who has served within the Home since 2012.
Requested on Tuesday if he’ll defend Massie towards a major challenger, Johnson weighed his commitments as Speaker together with his understanding of Trump’s anger with the Kentucky Republican.
“That’s the hardest question I had this morning, and I’m being totally honest with you,” Johnson stated. “Look, the Speaker’s job, my role with my party cap on is I’m leader of my party here, and the Speaker leads the incumbent protection program, right, that’s what we call it. I gotta make sure everybody gets reelected. I travel the country nonstop, relentlessly, raising money to ensure that that happens.”
“But I certainly understand the president’s frustration about the colleague you named, and he and I talk about that quite a bit,” he continued. “Can’t quite understand what the rationale is but if you’re here and you’re wearing one team’s jersey and every single time you vote with the other team, people begin to question what your motive is and what your philosophy is and why you’re so consistently opposed to the platform, the agenda of your party.”
It stays unclear who will major Massie, however the effort to discover a candidate is ramping up. Chris LaCivita, Trump’s 2024 co-campaign supervisor, and Tony Fabrizio, a Trump pollster, launched a brand new tremendous PAC that’s geared toward unseating Massie.
“MAGA KY was formed for the specific purpose of firing Thomas Massie – His constituents will soon learn that he prefers the politics and policy of AOC and the radical left – over President Trump,” LaCivita instructed NewsNation, referring to progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) by her moniker.
Massie, for his half, has not flinched amid the elevated stress. On Monday, he stated, “I have the Trump antibodies,” doubtless referring to earlier scuffles he has gotten into with Trump; and on Tuesday, after Johnson stopped wanting providing assist for the incumbent, Massie reposted Trump’s Could 2022 assertion endorsing him.
“For those who want to know what @realDonaldTrump really thinks of me, this should clear things up…” he wrote on social platform X with the outdated endorsement.
Trump and Massie have traditionally had a difficult relationship.
In March 2020, Massie tried to power a vote on the CARES Act COVID-19 stimulus invoice, which compelled members to return to Washington to keep away from a delay in passing the laws — drawing the ire of Trump. In August 2022, Trump endorsed Massie earlier than his major, calling the Kentucky Republican “a first-rate Defender of the Constitution.” In April 2023, Massie endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) within the GOP presidential major, sparking intense anger from Trump. In October 2024, after DeSantis had dropped out, Massie endorsed Trump.
Trump’s and Johnson’s frustrations with Massie are resurfacing because the Kentucky Republican voted towards key occasion laws, supported an effort to oust the Speaker final yr and, most not too long ago, sharply criticized the president’s strike in Iran.
Massie is co-leading a bipartisan struggle powers decision with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that might stop the U.S. from further intervention in Iran, an effort that Johnson has staked opposition to. Massie, nevertheless, might maintain again the decision now that Trump introduced a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Trump unloaded on Massie as not too long ago as Tuesday morning, calling him a “Third Rate Congressman” and a “LOSER.”
Johnson, moreover, instructed reporters: “We never agree these days; I’m not sure where his philosophy is coming from.”
