Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the lone House Republican who has consistently opposed Trump’s deficit-raising “big, beautiful bill,” said he sleeps well at night.
“I have raised $400,000 from 4,500 donors in the last 10 days for taking this principled stand. So my life hasn’t been difficult at all,” Massie told NBC News in the Capitol today, adding that he’s “not concerned” that Trump and his allies might come after him politically.
He said they’re trying to send a message to other Republicans.
“They’re whipping this horse, because I’m out of the barn, to keep the other horses in the barn,” he said.
As House GOP leaders struggle to corral the votes of various Republican holdouts, including other conservatives who say they care about the national debt, Massie predicted they would “cut a deal for something” and find their way to vote yes on the bill. “I doubt it’s a deal that I would make,” he said.
Massie argued there’s one simple reason other Republicans are unwilling to take a stand on the bill.
“They’re just afraid of Trump and the backlash that would ensue if he called them out,” Massie said.
After his attempts to force a roll call vote on the 2020 CARES Act, the Covid relief legislation five years ago, Massie said: “I developed the Trump antibodies by winning my primary with 81% of the vote, having him tweeting at me multiple times that I should be thrown out of the party, etc., etc.”
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