Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) took to social media Tuesday to ask for political contributions after President Trump labeled him a “grandstander” for opposing the GOP’s tax-and-spending megabill — which the lawmaker argued will add to the national debt.
“I need your help. For having the audacity to say this bill does NOT repeal the green new deal, but DOES increase the deficit and debt substantially, I was threatened by Trump today,” Massie wrote on social platform X, linking to a donation website. “Can you contribute to my reelection at this link?”
The Kentucky Republican’s post included a clip from Trump’s gaggle with Capitol Hill reporters earlier Tuesday, when he was asked about Massie’s claim that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act adds more to the deficit than in the previous administration.
“I don’t think Thomas Massie understands government,” Trump told reporters before the. “I think he’s a grandstander, frankly. I think he should be voted out of office.”
On the White House claim that the GOP package of legislative priorities would not add to the deficit, Massie told CNN’s Manu Raju, “That’s a joke.”
“We’re going to add $20 trillion dollars to the debt over the next 10 years, which is three and a half to $5 trillion more than would have been added otherwise,” Massie said of the reconciliation package.
Trump made a rare trip to the Capitol on Tuesday in an effort to convince moderates and hardliners to fall in line and support the massive bill containing key pieces of his domestic agenda.
The “big, beautiful bill” has run into a series of hurdles in the House as different factions within the conference clash over priorities, including a battle over state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps and Medicaid cuts.
The bill currently includes plans to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $4 trillion, which would likely last about two and a half years as the Treasury Department warns the government risks defaulting on its more than $36 trillion debt in the coming months.
Massie has consistently opposed legislation that adds to the deficit, even if it’s his own party proposing the increases. He has also bucked the party and drawn scrutiny from Trump in the past but has consistently won reelection in his red district.