Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., waved off President Donald Trump’s threats to back a primary challenger against him next year, asserting that he will still prevail, but Republicans will lose the House majority as a result by “wasting millions of dollars against me.”
“I think it’s going to backfire tremendously,” Massie said outside the Capitol on Tuesday, a day after Trump said he was looking for a Republican that he “can endorse and vigorously campaign for” ahead of the 2026 midterms in Kentucky.
“Well, they’ve spent $1.8 million against me so far in my congressional district. I think it’s had very little effect, but they are trying to beat up on me to keep everyone else in line here, and I think it’s not working,” Massie told NBC News.
“I am going to prevail. What they are going to find out is it will embolden members of Congress here to go with their heart, with their minds, with their constituents and not just toe the party line,” Massie added.
In addition to voting against Trump’s One Big, Beautiful Bill Act last month, Massie is now teaming with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., by pushing for a discharge petition to force a vote on the release of files from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
“Thomas Massie, the worst Republican Congressman, and an almost guaranteed no vote each and every time, is an embarrassment to Kentucky,” Trump wrote in a scathing Truth Social post Monday night.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also assailed Massie on Tuesday.
“I don’t know how his mind works. I don’t know what he’s thinking,” said Johnson, later adding he tries to follow the late former President Ronald Reagan’s “11th Commandment: ‘Never speak evil of another Republican.'”
“My gosh, it’s hard to do sometimes around here,” Johnson said.
While Massie doesn’t yet have a Republican challenger for his reelection bid, Trump’s allies are pouring money into efforts to find one and oust the seven-term representative.
“Number one, I think they are wasting millions of dollars against me, and they are going to lose the majority because of that. But number two, I think it will embolden Republicans who are right now quietly agreeing with me but saying, ‘I’m afraid of winning my primary; let’s see if you can win yours, Massie.'”
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