Donald Trump launched a fierce attack on Thomas Massie after the lame-duck congressman unveiled articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth.
Massie cited “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the alleged kidnapping of a foreign leader and violations of laws intended to reduce civilian casualties among his grounds for seeking Hegseth’s removal.
Trump, who endorsed Massie’s successful primary challenger earlier this year, defended Hegseth and condemned the outgoing Kentucky Republican in a post on Truth Social.
“Defeated Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, a total loser, is trying to Impeach perhaps the most popular and successful military official in the Country, Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth,” Trump wrote.
“With recruitment at an ALL-TIME HIGH, from an all-time low under Sleepy Joe Biden, and TWO VICTORIES, Venezuela and Iran, Pete Hegseth should be praised, not Impeached.”
Trump also lashed out at Massie during a surprise White House press briefing on Monday, when Collins asked him about the impeachment effort targeting Hegseth.
“Massie’s a loser,” Trump said, speaking over Collins. “He’s a loser just like you at CNN.”
Several questions later, Hillyard drew Trump’s anger after asking about the president’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump attacked Thomas Massie on social media and during a surprise White House press briefing after the lame-duck congressman introduced articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth
Massie cited “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the alleged kidnapping of a foreign leader and violations of laws designed to limit civilian casualties among his reasons for seeking Hegseth’s removal
“Who are you with?” Trump shot back.
After the reporter identified his network, Trump turned his criticism toward the White House correspondent.
“MS Now gets the worst ratings … used to be MSDNC … you’re a fake network.”
“What a joke you are,” Trump scoffed before moving on to another question.
At a Capitol Hill news conference, Massie responded with dry humor while expressing outrage over Hegseth’s record in office.
“The reality is, we’re not indicting him for being bad at his job. In fact, he was very effective at killing schoolchildren in Iran. He was very effective at extrajudicial killings. There’s no argument in these impeachment articles that he’s ineffective. The argument here is that he’s broken laws and he’s violated the Constitution,” he said.
Massie continued: “I hope he addresses the eight articles and doesn’t get up and misquote the Bible in Quentin Tarantino fashion and do some pull-ups and call everybody fat and gay for being for this impeachment. I may have just given you half his speech.”
The congressman then took to the House floor to read a 34-page impeachment resolution against Hegseth.
The anti-Trump Kentucky Republican also criticized Hegseth for sharply restricting media access to the Pentagon.
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No Democrat has publicly said they oppose supporting Massie’s resolution to impeach Hegseth.
Massie is seeking a vote on the resolution this week, likely Wednesday, after Congress returns from recess following a midterm election bloodbath for Republicans.
The key question is how many Republicans will support the measure after the party suffered devastating losses in last week’s midterm elections.
With 214 Democrats in the House, Democrats would need just three additional Republicans to join them for the impeachment vote. Massie is one of those Republicans, meaning at least two more would have to support the measure.
Hegseth has called Massie “a disgruntled, defeated congressman” and accused him of filing “sham articles of impeachment.”
There are, however, signs that Hegseth’s once-solid Republican defenses may be weakening beyond Massie.
Kentucky Republican James Comer, a staunch Trump ally who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said the votes needed to impeach Hegseth could exist in the House this week, although he did not commit to supporting the measure himself.
“We really didn’t know how to message what the exit strategy was, because I don’t think anybody in Congress knows what the exit strategy is,” Comer told Newsmax before discussing a potential impeachment vote.
Arkansas Republican French Hill, who represents a deep-red district but won his race last week by just 4,405 votes, told CBS News that he wants to “hear the debate” over whether Hegseth should be impeached.
“I want to hear the debate on it to see if it merits impeachment versus some other disciplinary action or action by the president if he’s not getting the job done in leading the Department of War. That’s the issue,” Hill told CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“If he’s not conducting his mission in the right way, then the president ought to make a change there.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is likely to become the next Speaker of the House, has fully endorsed Massie’s impeachment resolution.
“I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,” Jeffries told ABC’s “This Week” anchor Jonathan Karl on Sunday.
“The so-called Secretary of Defense has abused his power, undermined our national security and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe,” the top House Democrat said. He added: “Pete Hegseth has got to go.”
Massie has accused Hegseth of committing “high crimes and misdemeanors” by continuing military operations in Iran even though Congress has never formally declared a conflict in the region.
By introducing a privileged resolution, Massie has set in motion a procedural process that will force a vote and allow the issue to bypass the committee stage.
He used a similar strategy last year to compel a vote on releasing the Epstein files, resisting pressure from Republican leaders to abandon his transparency campaign. Massie has also said he would withdraw the impeachment effort only if Hegseth resigns.
A simple majority is required for the House to approve an impeachment resolution, while conviction in a Senate trial requires a two-thirds vote.
This is a developing story.
