Trump v Massie: Could president's Republican nemesis survive $20m attack to oust him? At a rally in a parking lot outside his campaign headquarters in Florence, Kentucky, on Saturday, Congressman Thomas Massie said that the Republican politicians who joined him had made a brave choice.
"I'm sure they'll be punished for coming here today," he said. It didn't take long for Massie's warning to prove prophetic, as Donald Trump took to Truth Social to make his displeasure known.
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who had been barnstorming with Massie all weekend, and Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator who endorsed Massie and shares his unorthodox small-government libertarianism, were "parading around like fools for the worst Republican congressman in the history of our party". The president called Boebert "weak-minded" and "dumb" and said that he would withdraw his endorsement of her if a Republican challenger came forward.
Trump's threats weren't exactly realistic. Paul doesn't stand for re-election for another two years.
The filing date to run against Boebert in the Colorado Republican primary has already passed. But Trump's animosity toward Massie is very real - and it has had real consequences.