Thomas Massie thinks that it’s time the president was monitored

Rep. Thomas Massie is calling for President Trump to have his social media posts vetted before sending them out, arguing that Trump has crossed serious lines with recent insults. The Kentucky Republican clarified that he wasn’t just reacting to the personal digs but thinks that Trump has “gone too far” and crossed important “guardrails.” Specifically, Massie pointed to the president attacking spouses and getting into racist tropes.

Politico reported that Massie believes the solution involves direct intervention from the administration. He suggested someone at the White House, perhaps Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, needs to go to the president and “just ask him for his phone, and maybe ask him just to show him the tweet before he sends it out.” 

One of the most egregious examples Massie pointed to was Trump’s now-deleted Truth Social post that portrayed former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. The video was widely denounced, even by some Republicans, before the White House finally took it down. Despite Trump’s insistence that he did nothing wrong, Massie believes that Trump needs to “absolutely apologize.”

He isn’t wrong

Massie also brought up how Trump recently went after his own wife online. He said that while “everything he says about her is untrue,” the attacks are “beyond the pale.” It’s understandable why people get upset; Massie noted that the public “recoil when he goes to those racist tropes or when he attacks spouses. It’s just uncalled for.”

Massie’s comments came just days after Trump made quite a few inappropriate comments at the National Prayer Breakfast. In his tirade of a speech, he also mocked Massie’s intelligence. Trump said Massie was “an automatic no. No matter what,” referencing Massie’s opposition to certain Trump policies. Massie earned the president’s ire partly because he pushed legislation alongside Rep. Ro Khanna for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.

The stakes are high for Massie right now, too, since he is currently facing a Trump-supported primary opponent named Ed Gallrein in the Kentucky Republican primary. However, Massie took the personal insult about his intelligence in stride. He joked about his academic credentials, telling the host he was speaking with, “I have two degrees from MIT, and I’m sorry you booked a moron today on your show.” 

That’s a pretty snappier comeback than I would have thought, especially given the seriousness of the social media issues he was discussing!