A House Republican is openly criticizing former President Trump for urging a primary challenger to oppose another Republican lawmaker.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., accused Trump of “bullying” his colleague, Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.
“It’s useless and unjustified,” wrote the libertarian brandon.
Massie praised Lee, a first-term House member, as “a conservative and thoughtful member” of the House Judiciary Committee.
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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., accused former President Trump of “intimidating” one of his House Republican colleagues.
“She approved [Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis] for president, but then supported Trump when DeSantis withdrew from the race. More of my colleagues should speak out against these ridiculous intimidation tactics,” Massie concluded.
What followed was a message from Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who has criticized Trump in the past. He added his support by commenting: “Co-sponsor.”
Trump called for a primary challenger for Lee in a post on his Truth Social app Sunday evening, writing: “Are any major MAGA Republicans looking to run against Laurel Lee in Florida's 15th Congressional District? IF YES, PLEASE MOVE FORWARD !”
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Trump has called for a primary challenger to face Republican Rep. Laurel Lee in Florida. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to spokespeople for the former president and Lee's re-election campaign for a response.
Before running for the House of Representatives, Lee had served in the DeSantis administration as Florida's secretary of state from 2019 through part of 2022.
She was the Sunshine State's top election official in 2021 when DeSantis announced that Florida would not audit the 2020 presidential election, despite pressure from Trump's allies. Trump won Florida over now-President Biden by about 3%.
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Rep. Chip Roy R-Texas endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president alongside Massie and Lee.
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Lee was the only member of Florida's House delegation to support the state's governor against Trump. Massie and Roy also supported DeSantis when he was running in the Republican primary, but only Lee switched her support to Trump in late January when DeSantis dropped out of the race.
Trump called for a primary challenger against Roy late last year.