Owner of X, Elon Musk, has reacted to a Republican congressman’s revelation that he is being threatened with a fine for not deleting a video from his social media account.
What Happened: On Tuesday, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s (R-Ga.) ally, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his experience with the “House Sergeant at Arms.”
Massie said that he was warned of a $500 fine if he did not delete a video post. “Instead of fining democrats for waving flags, the House Sergeant at Arms just called and said I will be fined $500 if I don't delete this video post,” he said, adding, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) “really wants to memory hole this betrayal of America.”
The video in question was posted on Sunday, showed several U.S. House Representatives waving Ukraine’s flag. At the time, Massie’s caption read, “This is the U.S. House of Representatives under the direction of Speaker Mike Johnson. Democrats are celebrating his total capitulation with no victory for securing our border.”
Musk, in response to Massie’s post, asked, “You can be fined for posting a video?”
Massie, in turn, questioned the authority of the House to demand the removal of a video from his congressional account. He also raised concerns about the House “Sergeant at Arms” monitoring his social media account for potential infractions.
“The uniparty is big mad at me for exposing them on several votes and for asking the Speaker to resign. The Speaker, his staff, or one of his allies in our conference is probably directing the Sergeant at Arms to do this,” Massie said.
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Why It Matters: Massie’s latest statements are in line with his previous public stance against Speaker Johnson. He had joined forces with Greene in her campaign to remove Johnson following the Speaker’s decision to bring multiple foreign aid bills to the floor.
The video posted by Massie on Sunday along with Greene’s demand for Johnson's resignation came after the House’s endorsement of a $95 billion foreign aid package, earmarking $61 billion for Ukraine and neighboring allies.
Despite his earlier reluctance to bring such a bill to the House floor, Johnson sided with Democrats in pushing the bill forward. It now awaits final approval in the Senate.
Meanwhile, Speaker Johnson has brushed aside the threat of being ousted as “absurd” and has asserted his refusal to step down even though beside Massie, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) has also openly backed Greene’s proposal.
Photo via Shutterstock
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