Rep. Thomas Massie Is Voting for Trump
The libertarian-leaning Kentucky congressman says he's backing the Republican nominee.
Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie is, along with Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, one of two members of the House of Representatives who is frequently described as a libertarian. We included him when we sent around Reason's quadrennial "Who's Getting Your Vote?" survey (full results coming soon!), and he just replied with this note:
I've voted for Bob Barr (Libertarian) and Pat Buchanan (Reform Party) for POTUS in the past, but this year I plan to vote for Donald Trump.
He didn't say more there about why he was backing Trump. But he also mentioned his intention to vote for Trump on the Cincinnati radio station 55KRC yesterday, and there he offered this thought about his choice:
I think you're more likely to get change. I don't know if it's gonna be a good change, but you gotta break eggs to make an omelette.
Later in the interview, he added this:
Either Donald or Hillary is gonna win, and I think Donald Trump is more likely to sign my legislation, that I want to get passed, than Hillary Clinton is.
Massie also expressed appreciation for Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees, and he promised to do all he can as a legislator to "rein him in" if President Trump acts unconstitutionally.
Amash, meanwhile, still hasn't said who he intends to support, though he has made it clear that both Trump and Clinton are unacceptable to him. After Gary Johnson's running mate on the Libertarian ticket, William Weld, told Reason that Stephen Breyer and Merrick Garland are his kind of Supreme Court picks, Amash tweeted this disappointed response:
It's like they're daring me to cast a write-in vote for president. Can @RandPaul please jump back into this race? https://t.co/bP4YyRqHDs
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) July 30, 2016
But in subsequent tweets he added that Johnson is "still better than the other two" and that he hasn't "decided yet" whether he's voting Libertarian. So Amash's plans are still pending.