Thomas Massie Proves Ego Trumps Everything Including Country

There’s a special kind of disappointment reserved for watching someone you thought stood for something reveal they stand for nothing at all. Thomas Massie just gave us that moment.

The Kentucky congressman cast the lone Republican vote alongside House Democrats to strip President Trump of his war powers. Let that sink in for a second. While 213 Republicans held the line, Massie decided his best company was Ilhan Omar and the rest of the Democratic caucus. The measure failed by a single vote, 214 to 213, and we came terrifyingly close to neutering our Commander in Chief during a critical moment in foreign policy.

You know what’s rich about this? The resolution was supposedly about ending some imaginary Iran war and reasserting congressional authority under Article I of the Constitution. Noble sounding, right? Except it’s transparent garbage. This was never about constitutional principles or carefully considered foreign policy. This was about undermining Trump, pure and simple. Democrats have been trying to hamstring this president since before he took the oath of office, and Massie apparently decided that was a bandwagon worth jumping on.

The timing couldn’t be worse. Trump and Israel just launched coordinated strikes targeting Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The president has made it crystal clear that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons on his watch, not the bomb itself and not the delivery systems that would make Tehran a global threat. That’s called leadership. That’s called protecting American interests and standing with our allies. Massie seems perfectly content letting Iran march toward nuclear capability because, well, Trump’s the one stopping them.

Here’s where it gets personal. Massie used to be different. When he first got elected, he positioned himself as a fiscal conservative with libertarian leanings. Fine. I didn’t always agree with his dissent from the party line, but at least you could argue the man had principles. He’d vote against spending bills on principle. He’d take unpopular stands based on conviction. I could respect that even when I disagreed.

But something changed. The moment Trump pushed back against him, Massie’s ego took the driver’s seat. Now he’s so reliably anti-Trump that he’s becoming anti-American in the process. He doesn’t even pretend anymore that this is about principle. It’s personal vendetta dressed up in constitutional language, and it’s pathetic to watch.

Back in March, Massie co-sponsored a similar resolution with Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. That attempt went down 212 to 219. Fellow Republican Warren Davidson voted for it too, though apparently the blowback was enough that this time around he voted present. Spineless doesn’t begin to cover it, but at least Davidson sensed which way the wind was blowing. Massie doubled down.

One Democrat, Jared Golden of Maine, actually voted with Republicans to preserve Trump’s war powers. Think about that. A Democrat from a swing district showed more sense and more respect for presidential authority than a supposed Republican. That’s not just embarrassing for Massie. That’s a five-alarm fire for what it says about where his loyalties actually lie.

The Senate already killed a similar measure easily, 47 to 52, mostly along party lines. So even if Massie and his new Democratic friends had succeeded in the House, this resolution was dead on arrival. Which makes his vote even more revealing. He wasn’t taking a principled stand that might actually change policy. He was making a statement, throwing a tantrum, proving a point. And the point is that he cares more about his grudge than his country.

There’s another possibility we need to consider. Maybe Massie was never what he claimed to be. Maybe the fiscal conservative routine was always just that, a routine. Maybe he’s been looking for an excuse to show his true colors, and Trump gave him the permission structure he needed. Being a conservative who bucks the establishment sounds principled until you realize you’re not bucking the establishment at all. You’re joining it.

The decline has been sad to watch, honestly. But we’re past the point of giving Massie the benefit of the doubt. When you’re voting with The Squad to handicap American foreign policy, you’ve lost the plot entirely.

Related: Trump’s Iran Strategy Is Working and the Critics Were Dead Wrong