Interesting insight from GOP Rep. Thomas Massie – the actual member of Congress who led the charge against Paul Ryan when he was Speaker. He is openly saying that Donald Trump’s attack against Ron DeSantis, claiming DeSantis supported Paul Ryan as Speaker is, “a joke.” In fact, Massie is saying it was Trump as President who supported Ryan against him and others who dared to oppose Ryan. Massie is now calling on DeSantis to run against Trump for the GOP Presidential Nomination.
Another member of Congress has called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. This time it is Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.
Endorsements are not unusual, but the move by Massie could undercut recent Trump attacks that DeSantis was once a “disciple” of “RINO loser” former House Speaker Paul Ryan.
The most outspoken libertarian in the House, it was Massie, not Trump, who opposed Ryan. He was the only Republican to vote against him for speaker, a move Massie worried “would attract the wrath of President Trump” because, at the time, “that’s how strongly Trump had endorsed him.”
“Go back and roll the tape,” Massie told RealClearPolitics, noting how Trump’s endorsement effectively quelled all opposition from the speaker’s right flank. A perennial thorn in the side of GOP leadership, he tried assuaging the anger of the populist president by cribbing his vocabulary. On the floor, Massie said his opposition stemmed only from a desire “to drain the swamp.”
The current Trump complaint that DeSantis was in cahoots with Ryan while in Congress, Massie said, “is a joke.” He should know.
Massie was one of the so-called “insurgents” who was regularly at war with Ryan’s predecessor, Speaker John Boehner. He recalled sitting at dinner with then-Rep. DeSantis and rejoicing when news broke that Boehner’s most loyal lieutenant, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, lost his primary.
“We relished those election results,” Massie said. “We were both so excited to see Eric Cantor lose!” He said of his former colleague, a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, “Ron wasn’t a fan of any of [GOP House] leadership.” . . . .
RealClearPolitics