Republican U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was one of two members of Congress to back Ron DeSantis’ doomed presidential campaign in 2024. But DeSantis has decided to stay on the sidelines as Massie fights for his political life.
Massie, who is one of the few Republicans willing to take Donald Trump on, framed his backing of the Florida Governor during the 2024 cycle as a matter of principle. At the time, the Never Back Down PAC supporting DeSantis pushed the endorsement, as Massie said DeSantis “never backed down from a fight with the big guys.”
The endorsement was framed as significant. Even as the polls showed DeSantis had no shot, Massie was there, schlepping from stop to stop in Iowa, where DeSantis’ campaign embraced a “win or go home” mindset.
But in the final day of Massie’s campaign this year against Ed Gallrein, a candidate supported by Trump who will have Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth with him Monday, DeSantis is staying as far away from the Bluegrass State as possible. DeSantis has a roundtable about property taxes Monday afternoon as his one advised event thus far.
Massie, an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has represented Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District since 2013. The long and winding district is designed to elect a Republican, and extends from the West Virginia border to south of Cincinnati, before jutting south between the Louisville and Lexington metropolitan areas.
In response to a question from reporters when he was in Kentucky to pitch a federal Balanced Budget Amendment, DeSantis did praise Massie for trying to “stand up against the COVID insanity” by pushing for a vote on the pandemic spending package.
But beyond that, DeSantis didn’t support him.
“I haven’t gotten involved in any congressional races. I’ve got a lot in Florida people want me to get involved in. I haven’t gotten involved. I don’t know all the details,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis has frustrated other allies by withholding endorsements, including Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, whom the Governor once fawned over as the “Chuck Norris of Florida politics.”
The Montana transplant continues to struggle with questions about why DeSantis saw fit to appoint him to the number two slot then sandbag his campaign for the job.
“I think people should take a step back and listen to the words he’s using,” Collins said earlier this month, pointing to long-ago praise where DeSantis said words to the effect of “‘the state would be ready because Jay is Day 1 ready.”
On other occasions, Collins has said there’s a “great chance” that DeSantis endorses him. But down in polls and fundraising against front-runner Byron Donalds, who is a Trump pick, that chance seems like something less than a sure thing.
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