On Sunday, President Trump attacked Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) over the congressman’s opposition to his bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities, which was undertaken without any congressional authorization, making it illegal under the Constitution.
“Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is. Actually, MAGA doesn’t want him, doesn’t know him, and doesn’t respect him,” Trump said in a long post on his Truth Social account.
“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,” the president added.
Before Trump bombed Iran, Massie introduced a War Powers Resolution in the House that would direct the president to “remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
Massie introduced the bill with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), and it now has 42 other Democratic co-sponsors. So far, no other Republicans have joined the effort. War Powers Resolutions are privileged, meaning Congress is required to swiftly debate and vote on the measure (contact your House representative and tell them to support the bill).
When Trump first announced the bombing of Iran on Saturday night, Massie said in a post on X that it was “not Constitutional.” In another post, the congressman said the action was an “act of war,” a response to many proponents of the bombing campaign who are claiming the US is not at war with Iran.
“When two countries are bombing each other daily in a hot war, and a third country joins the bombing, that’s an act of war,” Massie said. “I’m amazed at the mental gymnastics being undertaken by neocons in DC (and their social media bots) to say we aren’t at war… so they can make war.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump said Massie’s opposition to another war in the Middle East was “disrespectful” to the US military. “Massie should drop his fake act and start putting America First, but he doesn’t know how to get there — he doesn’t have a clue!” Trump said.
The president has previously targeted Massie over his opposition to the Trump-backed budget bill. Back in 2020, Trump called Massie a “third rate grandstander” for opposing a stimulus package passed in the early days of COVID, which contributed to the spike in inflation in the following years.
Trump is hoping that Massie will lose in the primaries in his next election and has vowed to campaign against him. “The good news is that we will have a wonderful American Patriot running against him in the Republican Primary, and I’ll be out in Kentucky campaigning really hard,” he said.
Axios reported that Trump’s political team has launched a super PAC dedicated to the goal of unseating Massie, called “Kentucky MAGA.” Due to his willingness to vote against pro-Israel legislation, Massie has been the target of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, which has spent big on ad campaigns against him.
