Exiled Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie has blasted Donald Trump for declaring “war” on him after criticizing the president’s strikes in Iran.
Massie was one of the first Republicans to publicly call out Trump’s involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. Last week, he partnered with House Democrats in an attempt to introduce a war powers resolution to “prohibit involvement in Iran.” Since the strikes, Massie has appeared on various news programs expressing his disapproval while Trump has banished him from MAGA ranks.
Trump’s Truth Social rant Sunday saw an exasperated president label Massie as “weak, ineffective” and, brutally, “not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is.”
The president added, “Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him. He is a negative force who almost always Votes ‘NO,’ no matter how good something may be. He’s a simple minded ‘grandstander’ who thinks it’s good politics for Iran to have the highest level Nuclear weapon, while at the same time yelling ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ at every chance they get.”
Trump’s screed also read, “MAGA should drop this pathetic LOSER Thomas Massie like the plague!”
On his X account, Massie made a brief right of reply to Trump’s 328-word onslaught.
Tagging Trump directly, Massie said the president, “declared so much War on me today it should require an Act of Congress.” He signed off with the hashtag #sassywithmassie.
In an interview with Fox News Digital published after Trump’s post on Sunday, Massie clarified he felt “misled” by the president’s actions, and was not alone in the MAGA camp.
“I didn’t think he would let neocons determine his foreign policy and drag us into another war.”
Massie continued, “Other people feel the same way, who supported Trump—I think the political danger to him is he induces a degree of apathy in the Republican base, and they fail to show up to keep us in the majority in the midterms.”
Libertarian-leaning Massie, who has represented Kentucky since 2012, is no stranger to clashing with Trump over politics. The president labeled Massie a “grandstander” in 2020 and called for his removal from the Republican Party over a COVID-19 relief package; then endorsed him in 2022 after he won multiple primary challenges.
Massie told CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday that Trump’s decision to bomb the Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan facilities made it “a good week for the neocons and the military industrial complex who want war all the time.”
“We are exhausted,” he said. “We are tired from all of these wars, and we’re non-interventionists. I mean, this was one of the promises. I mean, are you going to call President Trump’s campaign an isolationist campaign? What he promised us was, we would put America first.”
In another interview, on CNN’s Inside Politics, Massie said he found the notion that this wasn’t an act of war was “ludicrous.”
“This is a hot war,” Massie said. “There are two nations, Israel and Iran, trading volleys of missiles every night. Every day. And we’re a co-belligerent now in this war.”
He also said he represented “the base of the MAGA party that got Trump elected.”
Following Trump’s super-sized post, the pile-on from conservatives against Massie continued.
Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer even fired off a top-shelf expletive, re-posting a tweet from last October where she called him a “petty b—h.” She then added a brand new comment, “So glad everyone is finally waking up to what a massive c–t Thomas Massie is.”
Loomer then posted, “I’m not going to get nuked for Thomas Massie and Tucker Carlson.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair posted on X, “(I don’t care) if Thomas Massie opposes some things, including last night’s action. But he doesn’t, he opposes everything. Never engages constructively.”
Trump adviser Chris LaCivita reposted Blair’s message, adding “Oh he knows what time it is …it’s Times Up!”
LaCivita told NBC News on Sunday he and another Trump advisor, Tony Gabrizio, are actively planning to unseat Massie in a new super PAC or political action committee.
