Massie posts best fundraising number of career after defying Trump on key issues
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has made good on his promise to ensure President Trump’s threats to unseat him will “backfire” as his campaign fundraising numbers reach personal record heights.
Massie has touted more than $2 million in cash on hand for his reelection bid after managing to pull in nearly $768,000 in contributions from July to September, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. That three-month sum is reportedly a record for Massie’s political career.
The Kentucky Republican has bucked the Trump administration on numerous occasions, warranting recognition as a firebrand for White House critics.
Massie voted against the administration’s summer spending bill that wiped out Medicaid funds for states and has pushed for the Justice Department to release files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Amid an uptick in politically motivated shootings, Massie urged Trump to cool down his rhetoric surrounding party divisions in the wake of the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
More recently he also diverted from the Republican Party in voting against the House-passed stopgap bill intended to keep the government open.
“Thomas Massie, the worst Republican Congressman, and an almost guaranteed NO VOTE each and every time, is an Embarrassment to Kentucky,” Trump wrote in one post on Truth Social in July. “He’s lazy, slow moving, and totally disingenuous — A real loser!”
He added, “Never has anything positive to add. Looking for someone good to run against this guy, someone I can Endorse and vigorously campaign for!”
Quips from the president have been used as a motivating factor by Massie, who capitalized on the national momentum for fundraising efforts.
“Well, they’ve spent $1.8 million against me so far in my congressional district,” Massie said during a July interview with NBC News. “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 is not working. I think what’s going to happen, this will be a referendum on whether the executive branch controls the legislative branch.”
“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 told NBC’s Sahil Kapur.