Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Thomas Massie’s useless tenure in Congress is coming to an end
Washington Examiner ^ | 16 May 2026 | Joe Conch

Posted on 05/16/2026 6:21:47 AM PDT by Vigilanteman

In Focus delivers deeper coverage of the political, cultural, and ideological issues shaping America. Published daily by senior writers and experts, these in-depth pieces go beyond the headlines to give readers the full picture. You can find our full list of In Focus pieces here.

An op-ed in the New York Times on Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) this week, He’s One of a Dying Breed in Congress. America Needs Him Now More Than Ever, could not have been any more sycophantic.

The Times hasn't endorsed a Republican presidential candidate since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. That means they loved the likes of Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Jimmy Carter twice, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden twice. But since Thomas Massie is a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, he's getting the kind of special treatment other anti-Trump Republicans from Marjorie Taylor Greene to George Conway to Mitt Romney have received.

But as for Massie's accomplishments? Well, in the political arena, none exist. The congressman never offers anything resembling solutions or alternatives outside of pie-in-the-sky generalities. He helped oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when a solid majority of House members approved of his performance, leaving Republicans scrambling for months.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; Politics/Elections; US: Kentucky
KEYWORDS: edgallrein; fifthcolumnists; kentucky; massie; nytimes; tds; tdsmassie; thomasmassie
Less than a week ago, Massie the @$$ie had a nine point lead in Kentucky's primary polls.

Now, not so much. Is this the value of a New York Times endorsement?

1 posted on 05/16/2026 6:21:47 AM PDT by Vigilanteman
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

So let it be done...


2 posted on 05/16/2026 6:23:26 AM PDT by ComputerGuy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman
Massie is a strange duck.

As a politician, he seems to side with Democrats on virtually all of the really important issues which he justifies as some sort of principled stance that coincidentally pushes the Democrat agenda forward and blocks the Republican agenda.

Republicans can do better.

3 posted on 05/16/2026 6:29:13 AM PDT by rdcbn1 (..when poets buy guns, tourist season is over................Walter R. Mead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rdcbn1
"Republicans can do better."

Of course they can, but remember the GOP agenda is not the Trump agenda .

4 posted on 05/16/2026 6:34:13 AM PDT by buckalfa (More chaos and disruption please)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

This says it all about Massie ...

“But as for Massie’s accomplishments? Well, in the political arena, none exist. The congressman never offers anything resembling solutions or alternatives outside of pie-in-the-sky generalities.”

Time for him to find a real job.


5 posted on 05/16/2026 6:39:13 AM PDT by boycott
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: buckalfa

Well Massie’s agenda is not even close . He uses the excuse of having libertarian tendencies as excuse for what he does.


6 posted on 05/16/2026 6:44:44 AM PDT by Destroyer Sailor (This Phone)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman
It's too close to call with high confidence, but Thomas Massie is in serious danger of losing his Republican primary on May 19, 2026.
We'll see.
7 posted on 05/16/2026 6:46:12 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

Massie (like MTG) would be happier as a podcaster / talking head anyways.


8 posted on 05/16/2026 6:47:29 AM PDT by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman
He helped oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when a solid majority of House members approved of his performance, leaving Republicans scrambling for months....

But not long after Johnson took the gavel, Massie's plan with Johnson was the same as with McCarthy: force Johnson out or force his resignation, then worry about the small details, such as, you know, who to actually replace him with afterward.

Well to be fair, there were more than a few here who had the same logic. Kind of ignoring the realities of the numbers and insisting the Speaker be more hard line despite the lack of votes.

9 posted on 05/16/2026 7:11:59 AM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

Massie is Fetterman with hair- they both say wonderful words, but when their vote is really needed they vote with the democrats....


10 posted on 05/16/2026 7:15:20 AM PDT by Vesuvian
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: escapefromboston

Typical libertarian . . . more interested in discussing purity of thought than actually doing the dirty business of governing. Which is exactly why there are so very few libertarians actually holding office under their party label beyond the local and county levels.


11 posted on 05/16/2026 7:24:35 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (The politicized state destroys many aspects of civil society, human kindness and private charity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

Massie will win the primary. He has a good ground game. Gallrein is hardly a MAGA warrior and left the party when Trump was first elected. He is backed by big RINO money. Neither will be a reliable member. But Massie will prove that it isn’t always the big money and the same old paid consultants every election that wins these races. A lesson the GOP needs to learn.


12 posted on 05/16/2026 12:16:00 PM PDT by Baldwin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

antiIsrael bastard.

I like most of his libertarian positions but not his bias. Won’t miss him if he is dethroned.


13 posted on 05/16/2026 1:35:37 PM PDT by KingofZion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: rdcbn1

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4369035/posts
Flashback: Thomas Massie receives and accepts Quincy Award from Iran lobbyist
Rep Thomas Massie receiving the Quincy award from Trita Parsi, an actual Iranian lobbyist, alongside progressive Democrat Ro Khanna.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trita_Parsi
Trita Parsi (Persian: تریتا پارسی) is an Iranian-born Swedish writer and political analyst who is the co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He is also the founder and former president of the National Iranian American Council, which lobbies for stances on behalf of, and aligned with, Islamic Republic of Iran.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4367036/posts Thomas Massie calls Trump presidency the ‘Epstein administration’

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4367527/posts (Massie) admitted in a recent interview that he once offered Republican leaders his vote IN EXCHANGE for a public expression of gratitude for his role in forcing the disclosure of the federal government’s Jeffrey Epstein files.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4367330/posts Massie’s vote was contingent on whether or not Speaker Mike Johnson would publicly praise him for releasing the Epstein files. “This is a literal quote from Thomas Massie’s interview with Politico. “Praise me publicly and I’ll vote the way you want.”

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4363806/posts
Politics Strange Bedfellows: Meet the PAC Working to Reelect Thomas Massie—And Partnering With the DSA to Fight ICE The embattled Kentucky congressman traveled to Pennsylvania to meet with IPAC around the time its founder wrote his campaign a check. Thomas Massie poses with IPAC chairman Rafed Aljoboury

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4363639/posts
Kentucky’s Massie joins Dems in refusing to vote to fund ICE as US House passes 4 spending bills

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4315688/posts
Lone Republican becomes only lawmaker to vote against crackdown on human organ trafficking (Massie)

A bill aimed at cracking down on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its practice of forced organ harvesting passed with overwhelming support on Wednesday – though one House lawmaker voted against it.

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the lone Republican to oppose the Stop Forced Organ Harvesting Act, which passed 406-1.

“It’s just another example of us trying to stick our nose in another country’s business and write their laws,” Massie told Fox News Digital after the vote. “And at the end of the day, they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do, and it’s just sort of a virtue signal over here.”

...

But his pushback is also notable now given his status as an open critic of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and at times, of President Donald Trump.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and would authorize the Secretary of State to deny U.S. passports and visitor visas to people involved in organ trafficking circles.

It would also call for sanctions on entities and individuals found to have participated in the gruesome illicit industry.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4324812/posts
‘Mofo...in the White House’: Jasmine Crockett attacks Trump, praises Massie in anti-Iran strike rant
‘There’s only one Republican that I know I can count on for sure doing the right thing,’ Rep Crockett says in a new video

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, launched another tirade against President Donald Trump over the weekend, while offering rare praise for one of her House GOP colleagues who is currently at odds with the commander in chief.

The Democratic firebrand took to Instagram Live late Saturday to criticize Trump’s strikes on Iran, while giving a “shout out” to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., over his bipartisan resolution to rein in the president’s ability to conduct such operations.

“So long story short, for those of you that are unaware, the mofo that resides in the White House has unilaterally, in my estimation, declared war,” Crockett said in the video.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4325539/posts

Massie bucks GOP leadership again on Adam Schiff censure vote, draws conservative ire

Conservatives are conveying anger with northern Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie over his vote to oppose a resolution censuring California Rep. Adam Schiff, a favorite boogeyman of Republicans. Massie joined 19 other House Republicans in defecting from party leadership from condemning Schiff for championing the investigatory onslaught against former President Donald Trump. Combined with unanimous Democratic opposition, the measure failed, surprising even Schiff. The libertarian-leaning Massie claimed the resolution was unconstitutional for a clause that instructed Schiff should be fined $16 million if the House Ethics Committee found he “lied, made representations and abused sensitive information.” “Allowing a majority of Congress to take $16 million (92 years of pay) from any member of Congress is shortsighted,” Massie tweeted again of the Wednesday evening vote. “Can we not imagine a time when this precedent would be used against conservatives? Fortunately it failed.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida freshman, said Massie was “making misrepresentations about the bill” she authored. A band of pro-Trump political figures went even further, casting doubts about Massie’s reasoning and calling for his defeat. Massie has endorsed Trump rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. “Not only is he being duplicitous, partisan and moronic about his choice – he’s straight up lying about the Constitution to achieve his political end goals. Sick,” wrote Raheem Kassam, a British political activist and editor in chief of The National Pulse.

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4368882/posts
Thomas Massie seems to suggest action against Iran was to distract from Epstein

One of the least reliable Republican votes:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-mavericks-defied-own-parties-more-than-anyone-else-2025

“He has voted against a majority of Republicans on 73 occasions or 22.3% of the time in the 119th Congress and was just one of two Republicans to oppose the final passage of Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Massie+voted+with+party+77%25+of+the+time+2025&t=h_&ia=web

Search Assist

In 2025, Representative Thomas Massie voted with the majority of his party 77% of the time, indicating he often aligned with Republican positions but also broke ranks on several occasions. This voting pattern reflects his independent conservative stance within the party.
Wikipedia Fox News
Thomas Massie’s Voting Record in 2025
Overview
In 2025, Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, demonstrated a notable voting pattern in the U.S. House of Representatives. He voted with his party approximately 77% of the time.

Dissenting Votes
Despite his overall alignment with the Republican Party, Massie was among a small group of lawmakers who frequently broke ranks. His dissent rate was significant

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4378587/posts Massie on Tucker promoted another lie based on Pallywood [fake screenshot, messy m-falsehood]


14 posted on 05/16/2026 8:18:33 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Vesuvian

15 posted on 05/16/2026 8:19:16 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Vigilanteman

End Massie’s tenure.


16 posted on 05/16/2026 9:52:17 PM PDT by gildafarrell (To Strive, To Seek, To Find and Not To Yield!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson