Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
- Trump is far outpacing everyone else when it comes to congressional endorsements.
- But two DeSantis backers in Congress say it's mostly because Republicans are scared of their voters.
- "Too many of my Republican colleagues operate out of fear," said Rep. Chip Roy of Texas.
The majority of former President Donald Trump's support in Congress is driven by fear of Republican voters, according to two House Republicans.
Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky — both of whom are staunch conservatives and backers of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — claimed as much in recent interviews with The New York Times.
"I would say a good number of the people who have endorsed Trump in Congress have done it because they genuinely want him to be the president and they prefer him," Massie told the Times. "But a majority of them are scared of their own constituents. Not necessarily scared of Trump, but that he would rile up their constituents and that they might lose a primary. And that is disappointing to me."
"Frankly," Roy told The Times, "all too many of my Republican colleagues operate out of fear. I fear the Lord. I don't fear politics. I don't fear political retribution. Worst-case scenario, I end up back in Texas? My life is pretty good."
Trump now boasts close to 100 House Republican endorsements, including the entire top brass of House Republican leadership.
The former president recently sought to encourage a primary challenge to Roy, who he dubbed a "Republican in Name Only." But he did so more than a week after the filing deadline.
Both men have shown a willingness to buck their party, and not just on the matter of who should be their presidential standard-bearer.
Massie, for example, is generally an opponent of all foreign aid, including to Israel, and he has voted against some recent pro-Israel bills in the House.
And both Roy and Massie were in the minority of House Republicans who voted to certify the results of the 2020 election, angering Trump.
"I have the Trump antibodies," Massie told The Times. "I've been attacked, built a resistance in my district."
Trump, meanwhile, is beginning to stew about Republicans who have refused to back his 2024 campaign.
He recently warned that both Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri "must be very careful" in their 2024 reelection campaigns, prompting Hawley to quickly endorse the former president.
But Cruz — who used to employ Roy as his chief of staff — has continued to hold out.
"Ted — he shouldn't even exist," Trump has reportedly said. "I could've destroyed him. I kind of did destroy him in 2016, if you think about it. But then I let him live."
Next Monday, Trump will face his first key electoral test since 2020, competing against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Ambassador Nikki Haley and others at the Iowa Caucuses.