Donald Trump launched a brutal attack on Thomas Massie after the lame duck Congressman announced articles of impeachment for Pete Hegseth.
Massie’s reasons for removing Hegseth include ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ as well as the kidnapping of a foreign leader and ignoring laws to minimize civilian casualties.
Trump – who endorsed Massie’s successful primary challenger earlier this year – defended Hegseth and ripped the outgoing Congressman in a post to 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,’ he 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.’
At the press conference earlier Monday, when Collins asked Trump about Hegseth being the target of an impeachment effort led by Massie, the president grew enraged.
‘Massie’s a loser,’ Trump said, talking over Collins. ‘He’s a loser just like you at CNN.’
A few inquiries later, Hillyard became the object of Trump’s ire after asking about Trump’s relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Donald Trump ripped Thomas Massie on both social media and in his surprise White House press briefing after the lame duck Congressman announced articles of impeachment for Pete Hegseth
Massie’s reasons for removing Hegseth include ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ as well as the kidnapping of a foreign leader and ignoring laws to minimize civilian casualties
‘Who are you with?’ Trump shot back.
After the reporter identified his network, Trump fired a salvo at the White House reporter.
‘MS Now gets the worst ratings … used to be MSDNC … you’re a fake network.’
‘What a joke you are,’ Trump scoffed before turning to another question.
Massie took a dry sense of humor and outrage at Hegseth’s performance in a press conference on Capitol Hill.
‘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 added: ‘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 took to the floor of the House of Representatives to read out a 34-page impeachment resolution against Hegseth.
The anti-Trump Kentucky Republican also called out Hegseth for severely limiting press access at the Pentagon.
No Democrat has publicly said they are against backing a resolution introduced by Massie to impeach Hegseth.
Massie is pushing the resolution for a vote this week, likely on Wednesday, after Congress has resumed session following a midterm elections bloodbath for Republicans.
The question now is how many Republicans will back the measure after the party’s devastating losses in last week’s midterm elections.
With 214 Democrats seated in the House, the party needs only three more Republicans to join them in the impeachment vote. Massie is one, so at least two more Republicans need to turn.
Hegseth has called Massie ‘a disgruntled, defeated congressman’ and accused him of dropping ‘sham articles of impeachment.’
There are signs that Hegseth’s red wall of defense is cracking beyond Massie.
Kentucky Republican James Comer, a staunch Trump ally who currently serves as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, believes that the votes to impeach Hegseth may be present in the House this week, but did not commit to a vote 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 noting the following on an impeachment vote.
Arkansas Republican French Hill, who hails from a deep red district but only won his race last week by 4,405 votes, told CBS News that he wants to ‘hear the debate’ on impeaching Hegseth.
‘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, likely to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, is fully backing Massie’s impeachment resolution.
‘I’m a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution,’ Jeffries told ABC 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 continued, before adding, ‘Pete Hegseth has got to go.’
Massie has blasted Hegseth for committing ‘high crimes and misdemeanors,’ and for continuing to carry out military actions in Iran despite Congress never formally declaring a conflict in the region.
Massie’s introduction of a privileged resolution will force a vote on the matter by using a procedural move that allows issues to bypass the committee process.
He used a similar method to force a vote on the release of the Epstein Files last year, rejecting pressure from GOP leadership to kill his transparency campaign. Massie has also said he would only drop the current impeachment push if Hegseth resigns.
A simple majority is needed in the House to pass an impeachment resolution, but a two-thirds vote is required in the Senate to convict in a trial.
This is a developing story.
