Patriot or 'Pathetic RINO'? Maverick Republican Thomas Massie trades 'America First' label for 'America only'

Rep Thomas Massie a Republican fiscal hawk facing a President Donald Trump-backed primary challenger in Kentucky has previously described himself as America First but now he says he thinks that he's America only I am tired of sending money overseas he reported Fox News Digital during an interview on Thursday I am tired of favoring foreign beef over U S A -grown beef he continued I'm ready to be America only And I think all congressmen should be that way Massie gave Trump a mixed review saying that the president is America First on particular fronts REP THOMAS MASSIE REMARRIES AFTER WIFE'S DEATH LAST YEAR PLEASE PRAY FOR US But when it comes to the beef he is not America first When it comes to sending money overseas to Ukraine and Israel Massie mentioned I think he necessities to get back to his campaign promises and put America first Because we're not gonna make America great again by sending our money overseas Massie noted that his biggest disagreement with both the Trump administration and House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La is the increase in spending I mean I thought we were conservatives Why are we spending more this year than Joe Biden spent in his last year Really we're spending about billion dollars more he disclosed adding that the consequence is inflation and higher interest rates And people are feeling that You can't gaslight them Massie added You can't tell them that things are getting cheaper when they're not getting cheaper In a announcement to Fox News Digital White House spokesman Kush Desai accused Massie of Fake Math TRUMP SAYS MASSIE IS GONNA BE HISTORY AS BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL JUMPS FINAL HURDLES TO PASSAGE Here are the facts President Trump s Working Families Tax Cut Act cut mandatory spending by trillion over the next years and the budget deficit from April to September of this year is down a staggering compared to last year when Joe Biden was president Desai declared in the report Instead of Fake Math Thomas Massie should reflect on how he betrayed his voters and hardworking Americans when he voted with every Democrat against the biggest tax cut for working families in American history including no tax on tips no tax on Social Defense no tax on overtime pay increased child tax credits and permanence for the Trump Tax Cuts he added Massie explained his other disagreements with what has been happening in D C are secondary to the spending issue I would say we need to follow through on specific of our campaign promises For instance release the Epstein files he mentioned MAVERICK HOUSE REPUBLICAN IN TRUMP'S CROSSHAIRS TOUTS RECORD CAMPAIGN CASH HAULMassie and Rep Ro Khanna D-Calif have been spearheading a bid to force a House vote on a proposal that would compel the release of materials pertaining to Jeffrey Epstein Their discharge petition has amassed of the signatures needed to force the vote but Democratic Rep -elect Adelita Grijalva who has noted she will sign on has still not yet been sworn in to office more than six weeks after winning a special electoral contest in Arizona Johnson has tried every which way he can to avoid this vote Massie claimed asserting that the speaker has not sworn in the Democrat because she represents the th signature I need to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson's office for comment RAND PAUL PLEDGES SPONSORSHIP FOR MASSIE AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER I M GOING TO HELP HIM'Massie who owns cattle himself stated the president has sort of gut punched the cattle ranchers and livestock farmers in the U S During remarks aboard Air Force One last month Trump indicated the U S was considering buying beef from Argentina to drive down prices Days later Reuters announced that a White House official indicated that the administration was quadrupling the nation's low-tariff imports of beef from the South American nation Increasing the tariff rate quota to metric tons will allow Argentina to send greater quantities of the product to America at a lower rate of duty according to the outlet The president has Massie in his political crosshairs he has repeatedly reviled the congressman on Truth Social In a post on Monday Trump referred to Massie as a Weak and Pathetic RINO a pejorative acronymn that stands for Republican in name only He also called the congressman a totally ineffective LOSER while expressing his assistance for primary challenger Ed Gallrein who Trump is backing in the race SCOOP TRUMP-BACKED FORMER NAVY SEAL LAUNCHES GOP PRIMARY CHALLENGE AGAINST MASSIEEven as the president tries to convince voters in Kentucky's th Congressional District to reject Massie the lawmaker revealed that he does not regret endorsing Trump ahead of the referendum noting that former Vice President Kamala Harris would have been a total tragedy Massie initially backed Florida Gov Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primary but DeSantis dropped out and backed Trump and Massie later endorsed the Republican juggernaut as well CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP And I'm glad that President Trump won he commented Trump has done a lot of good things he commented adding that countless of them have been carried out via executive order and he thinks Congress should vote on more of the issues so that the president's moves are not completely temporary actions Required whether he'd have any interest in potentially running for president himself Massie reported that he is not interested