House Republican spurns Trump and writes in Ron DeSantis for president — and himself for VP

• Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, did not vote for Trump.
• Instead, he wrote in Ron DeSantis — and wrote his own name in for VP.

Rep. Thomas Massie, an idiosyncratic libertarian who represents a deep-red Kentucky district, is not voting former President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

Massie posted a photo of his ballot on X on Tuesday showing that he had written in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president — and himself for vice president.

He also suggested he wouldn't have done so if Trump wasn't all but guaranteed to win Kentucky.

"I do NOT recommend this," Massie wrote, "unless you're in a state where the outcome is already decided."

It's not entirely surprising that Massie would decline to cast his vote for Trump.

The two have had a somewhat tortured relationship, with the former president calling for the Kentucky congressman to be ousted from the GOP after he stalled a vote on a COVID relief package in March 2020.

Massie was one of a handful of House Republicans that endorsed DeSantis during the 2024 GOP presidential primary, and he has declined to issue a formal endorsement of Trump since he became the nominee.

The Kentucky congressman has also long been a the thorn in the side of the GOP generally.

In May, he partnered with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in an unsuccessful bid to oust Mike Johnson from the speakership, an effort driven in part by Johnson's decision to allow the House to vote on Ukraine aid.