Endorsements are not unusual, but the move by Massie could undercut recent Trump attacks that DeSantis was once a “disciple” of “RINO loser” former House Speaker Paul Ryan.

The most outspoken libertarian in the House, it was Massie, not Trump, who opposed Ryan. He was the only Republican to vote against him for speaker, a move Massie worried “would attract the wrath of President Trump” because, at the time, “that’s how strongly Trump had endorsed him.”

“Go back and roll the tape,” Massie told RealClearPolitics, noting how Trump’s endorsement effectively quelled all opposition from the speaker’s right flank. A perennial thorn in the side of GOP leadership, he tried assuaging the anger of the populist president by cribbing his vocabulary. On the floor, Massie said his opposition stemmed only from a desire “to drain the swamp.”