Trump wants pro-DeSantis Rep. Chip Roy to face a GOP primary challenger — but it's more than a week too late for anyone to launch a campaign

• Trump wants Rep. Chip Roy to face a GOP primary challenger.
• But there's one major problem: The deadline to launch a campaign was over a week ago.
• Roy is one of the few House Republicans who's backing Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign.

Former President Donald Trump wants Republican Rep. Chip Roy out of Congress. But he's a little late to the punch.

In a Truth Social post on Monday night, Trump asked whether any "smart and energetic Republican" might be interested in launching a primary challenge against the Texas congressman, who Trump dubbed a "RINO" — a "Republican In Name Only."

"For the right person, he is very beatable," wrote Trump. "If interested, let me know!!!"

The problem: The filing deadline for primary candidates in Texas was over a week ago, on December 11. Roy is set to run unopposed in the March 5 primary election, and given the conservative bent of his district, he's all but certain to be reelected next year.

While Trump didn't give a reason for his desire to see Roy go, the subtext is unmistakeable: Roy is one of just a handful of Republicans in Congress who are backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.

Roy also happens to be campaigning for DeSantis in Iowa this week.

At least one GOP colleague is already coming to Roy's defense — Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, another DeSantis backer.

"This shortsighted effort to intimidate Chip will not work," Massie wrote on X.

The Texas congressman is no moderate — he's a prominent member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, and a frequent thorn in House GOP leadership's side.

But the DeSantis endorsement isn't the only way that Roy's broken with Trump.

Even after searching for examples of fraud in the 2020 election, Roy ultimately voted to certify the results of that election, breaking with the majority of his colleagues.

It's also not the first time Trump has suggested Roy should face a primary challenger.

When Roy was mulling a bid for a House GOP leadership position in 2021, Trump said that the Texas congressman "has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district."

While Trump has largely avoided seeking to launch primary challengers to incumbent Republicans this year, he demonstrated his continued clout within the party during the 2022 midterms, when he backed successful challengers to several Republicans who voted to impeach him in the wake of the January 6 insurrection.

A spokesman for Roy declined to comment.