Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) refused to play ball with the political establishment last week as he stood alone to oppose a $2 trillion coronavirus bailout that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Massie has been pilloried by leaders in both major political parties, including President Donald Trump, for wanting deliberation on the profligate legislation, which was ultimately passed by a voice vote. Establishment politicians argued that it was offensive for them to be expected to do their jobs.
The liberty-oriented lawmaker revealed on Wednesday that the political establishment attempted to “bribe” him to buy off his support for the wasteful legislation.
“I’m not going to say exactly what I was offered, but I was offered a lot of things the night before the vote if I would withdraw my insistence on a quorum and a recorded vote,” Massie said during an appearance on 580-WVLK’s “Larry Glover Live” radio show.
“I don’t think people understand. I’ve received death threats, I’ve received campaign threats, I have been offered inducements and proffered inducements,” he added.
Massie is hoping that his principled stand will earn him the respect of his constituents as he fights for his political life against his RINO primary challenger.
“I hope the people can appreciate that I didn’t take any of the bribes, if you will, and I didn’t bow down to any of the threats, and now I have to live with my decision,” Massie said.
“This is a funny thing, people say I did this for political reasons — you show me how this benefited me politically,” Massie added. “I can’t find a way in which it does. I did it for principled reasons.”
President Donald Trump was particularly vicious toward Massie after he called for deliberation on the bailout measure. Trump called for Massie to be removed from the Republican Party for being too conservative.
…& costly. Workers & small businesses need money now in order to survive. Virus wasn’t their fault. It is “HELL” dealing with the Dems, had to give up some stupid things in order to get the “big picture” done. 90% GREAT! WIN BACK HOUSE, but throw Massie out of Republican Party!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 27, 2020
It will be an uphill battle for Massie to retain his Congressional seat, as he finds out the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished in the Washington D.C. swamp that Trump refuses to drain.
