U.S. Rep Thomas Massie of Kentucky declared via the social media platform X that the United States should not be funding Israel’s campaign of targeting civilian structures in Lebanon.

Massie posted his thoughts on X alongside a video clip of an Israeli missile hitting and destroying a residential building in Lebanon. In his post he wrote, “If Israel insists on destroying civilian targets in Lebanon, let them buy and build their own weapons. American taxpayers should not be funding this.”

A screenshot of Thomas Massie’s post on X.

The 53-year-old representative, representing Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District since 2012, has expressed criticism regarding America’s ongoing support for Israel and Israel’s military activity in the Middle East. He has been outspoken on his views regarding the extension of foreign aid and U.S. funding of foreign wars, voting against such resolutions and stating his oppositional views on X. His anti-war stances align more with the progressive view regarding U.S. interventionism in foreign wars.

In December of 2023, Massie was one of the 23 Republicans who voted to kill a resolution to censure U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) for her criticism of Israel. The Hill reported that the 222-286 vote in favor blocked the resolution from reaching the floor.

Massie won the Republican primary in the congressional district race in May. Due to his stances against U.S. aid to Israel and his vocal dissent against the Israeli campaign in Gaza, an affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), The United Democracy Project, created ads against him.

On May 9, The United Democracy Project shared a video ad on X that states, “Israel, the Holy Land, under attack by Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Congressman Tom Massie.”

After receiving 75.9 percent of the vote of the Republican primary in Kentucky, Massie shared his thoughts on X regarding AIPAC’s post stating that they did not attempt to infringe on the race, but rather shed light on his “anti-Israel record.” He stated that AIPAC spent more than $400,000 in efforts of “smearing” him, in attempts to unseat him.

Throughout his time serving in Congress, Massie has continued to oppose U.S. interventionism and military funding of foreign wars.

On October 9, he posted on X a screenshot of a report by The American Conservative titled “Congress MIA on Possible U.S. War with Iran” and wrote in his post, “The Constitution does not permit the executive branch to unilaterally commit an act of war against a sovereign nation that hasn’t attacked the United States.”

On June 26, Massie said in a statement on X, “We can’t continually fund foreign wars while simultaneously cutting taxes and devaluing our currency. This does not end well.”

In an interview with Tucker Carlson in June, Massie explained why he continuously voted against funding Israel.

When Carlson asked if it was because he hated Israel or if there was another reason for his stance, Massie responded, “No, I’m against sending our money overseas. I’m against starting another proxy war. I’m against sanctions because it’s going to weaken the dollar. I’m for free speech. Like all of these resolutions run afoul of those things and that’s why I can’t vote for them.”

In May, Massie shared a link to a Reuters report titled “Gaza death toll: How many Palestinians has Israel’s campaign killed”, writing in his caption, “Approximately 1 percent of Gaza’s civilian population has been wiped out by Israel in 7 months. We should not fund this war.”

At a House Rules Committee hearing in June following pending legislation in the International Criminal Court, Massie stated, “I don’t want to condone what Israel’s doing. I don’t want to condone the way Netanyahu is waging the campaign against Hamas because I think there are too many civilian casualties. One percent of the civilian population of Gaza is no longer breathing air, no longer on this planet and we’ve just somehow accepted that that level of civilian casualties — whether it’s two civilians for every enemy combatant is okay, which I do not accept.”

In July, ahead of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu address to the U.S. Congress, Massie expressed his opposition, on X, for the event and his reason for not attending.

He wrote, “Today Congress will undertake political theater on behalf of the State Department. The purpose of having Netanyahu address Congress is to bolster his political standing in Israel and to quell int’l opposition to his war. I don’t feel like being a prop so I won’t be attending.”

The AIPAC X account responded to the post, writing, “Once again, @RepThomasMassie is standing with @AOC and @BernieSanders against our ally Israel.”

Massie responded, “Call me anything you want. I still won’t be attending your war rally.”

Despite being a far-right Republican according to his website that states he “holds the most conservative lifetime rating of any Kentucky congressman”, Massie continues to remain staunch in his stance against U.S. funding of Israel’s campaign in Gaza and now Lebanon.