House Republican posts joke about write-in ballot listing Ron DeSantis for president — and himself for VP

• Rep. Thomas Massie shared a photo of a ballot showing a write-in vote for DeSantis — and Massie.
• Massie has long clashed with Trump, despite being a conservative Republican.
• A spokesperson for Massie told BI the post was a joke, noting the ballot's from a different state.

Rep. Thomas Massie, an idiosyncratic libertarian who represents a deep-red Kentucky district, shared a photo on X on Wednesday of a ballot that had Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis written in for president — and himself for vice president.

After initial publication of this story, a campaign spokesman responded to a request for comment and said that Massie's post was a joke, noting the ballot was from Massachusetts.

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

Massie and Trump 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 also 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 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.

Correction: October 16 — This story has been updated with comment from Massie's campaign to reflect that the initial post was a joke. An earlier version of this story said the photo was Massie's ballot.