Republican behind Epstein files act responds to Trump ‘lowlife’ taunt | Donald Trump
A Kentucky congressman who was singled out as a “bum” by Donald Trump at Christmas after co-authoring a law requiring the federal government to release all Jeffrey Epstein files says the president attacked him for fulfilling his pledge to “help the victims.”
Thomas Massie then successfully fundraised to run for another term in the 2026 midterm elections against an opponent already supported by fellow Republican Trump.
This back-and-forth showed that the gap between Trump and Massie was widening. Massie earned the president’s disdain by trying to pass a bipartisan congressional bill demanding the full release of documents belonging to Trump’s former friend, Epstein, who once pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor and later publicly died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges.
And on Christmas, Trump shared: a rumor On the Truth Social platform, he called Congress’s interest in Epstein a “scam” while referring to Massie, the only lawmaker mentioned in the post, as a “miserable ‘Republican.'”
This spurred Massie into action. to answer About
Massie’s account referenced “a bum ‘Republican'” in the text of the post, highlighted it in screenshots of Trump’s tirade, and asked X users to “please support me” while providing a link to the campaign donation site.
Separate follow-up posts on Massie’s account noted that more than 40 people donated nearly $3,000 in the first two hours after the fundraising appeal. One user responding to Massie’s account said she made “one of the few Republican contributions in my life.”
“I really appreciate this, especially the day after Christmas,” the congressman’s account said.
Massie has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2012. Massie became a thorn in Trump’s side after the president’s administration broke promises of full transparency regarding Epstein’s case.
He not only co-authored the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed Congress in November. Massie also said anyone linked to Epstein should face “the same kind of consequences” as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who lost his British royal title as Duke of York over his ties to the sex offender financier.
Moreover, Massie mentioned Peter Mandelson, the British ambassador to the US, before he was fired for his relationship with Epstein.
Massie later said, “A reckoning that should be happening in the United States is also happening in Britain.” “A prince lost his title. An ambassador to the United States lost his job. We need to see those kinds of consequences here.”
Trump’s justice department failed to fully comply with the Epstein Files Transparency Act’s Dec. 19 deadline, but released a wealth of material that day. On Wednesday, the justice department said it had found more than a million more documents related to Epstein and that it could take “a few more weeks” for those files to be made public.
Trump has endorsed retired U.S. Navy Seal Ed Gallrein, who will run against Massie in the Republican primary for the incumbent seat ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Massie said before Policy Gallrein was revealed to be a “failed enterprise hack” that Trump panickedly supported.
