During a press conference on Tuesday, a reporter asked Speaker of the House Mike Johnson whether he would back Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), who has voted against a his caucus on a number of bills, in his reelection campaign.
00:00Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just to follow off on that, I know before when you were asked whether or not you would back Mr. Massey for re-election, you didn't give a direct answer. He has some harsh things to say about your leadership yesterday related to the XDM files. Have you made up your mind whether or not you would squirt him or back him against a parent's relationship back to what you were talking about?
00:20So here's the – so as the leader of my party, I lead the incumbent protection program. That's my job. I go all around the country. I travel endlessly, incessantly. I have to raise over $300 million to do that, and we want everybody to come back.
00:36And some people, I try to protect them from themselves, you know. They kick and scream and bite their own colleagues. Some people seem to enjoy trying to inflict political pain on their own teammates.
00:50I'm not going to address anybody individually, but I'll tell you that some here are much more frustrated than others. There's a small, small, tiny handful, but one in particular who's given me lots of consternation.
01:00I don't understand – I don't understand Thomas Massey's motivation. I really don't. I don't know how his mind works. I don't know what he's thinking.
01:07Thomas Massey could have brought his discharge petition any time over the last four and a half years. Over the last four years of Biden administration, he could have done that at any time.
01:14And now he's clamoring as if there's some sort of timeline on it. It's interesting to me that he chose the election of President Trump to bring this, to team up with the Democrats and bring this discharge petition.
01:25So do I have some concern about that? I do. But, you know, in me and my way, I try to follow Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment, never speak evil of another Republican.
01:32My gosh, it's hard to do sometimes around here. I also try to follow the scripture, you know. It says, bless those who persecute you.
01:39So let me just say about Thomas Massey, could you just accept my Southern bless his heart, okay? I don't know what else to say about it.
01:46We're for maximum transparency. We're engaging in that right now, and we don't need political games.
