Thomas Massie applauds after Haley calls him 'most anti-Israel Republican'

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky fired back after former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley called him the “most anti-Israel Republican” during CNN's Republican presidential debate Wednesday evening.

Haley said it was “very rich” that fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis of Florida claimed to support Israel after bringing Massie, who voted against a House resolution in November supporting Israel's right to exist following the October 7 attack by Hamas on his campaign trail in Iowa. Massie answered to Haley's comments on social media, saying she was “living” in the former South Carolina governor “rent-free.”

“But it's very rich that it's Ron will act as if suddenly he cares about Israel when he brought the person in Iowa who is the most anti-Israel Republican the state, the person who went and voted against Israel's right exist in Congress, the person who voted with the staff against anti-Semitism in the university campus,” Haley said during the debate in Des Moines, Iowa.

“I'm living in Nikki Haley's head rent-free… and believe me, there's a lot of empty space here,” Massie replied on X, formerly known as Twitter.

I live across from Nikki Haley rent free…and believe me, there is a lot of empty space here!

— Thomas Massie for Congress (@MassieforKY) January 11, 2024

Massie said after voting against the resolution that while he supported “much of the language” in the document, he argued that anti-Zionism does not equate to anti-Semitism.

“Anti-Semitism is deplorable, but expanding it to include criticism of Israel is unhelpful,” Massie wrote.

Haley's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Latest messages from Kate Anderson (see everything)

We have zero tolerance for comments that contain violence, racism, profanity, profanity, doxing, or rude behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it, click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for engaging with us in a fruitful conversation.

JOIN OUR NEW COMMENT SYSTEM! We love hearing from our readers and invite you to join us for feedback and good conversation. If you've commented with us before, we'll need you to re-enter your email address for this. The public won't see it and we won't share it.