President Donald Trump reignited a bitter intra-party feud on Thursday when he publicly labeled Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) a “moron” during the National Prayer Breakfast, one of Washington’s most closely watched bipartisan faith events.

Trump’s campaign push against Massie comes as the Kentucky Republican has drawn attention for his occasional departures from party orthodoxy.

Trump, speaking to a crowded ballroom of lawmakers and clergy, singled out Massie as the lone Republican he said regularly votes against party priorities.

“No matter what we do, this moron, no matter what it is,” Trump said. “We’ll get a 100% vote except for this guy named Thomas Massie. There’s something wrong with him.”

Trump also suggested Massie was “an automatic no” on GOP-backed measures and compared him to fellow Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul.

The sharp criticism marked one of Trump’s most pointed public rebukes of a sitting Republican lawmaker in recent months. The president has endorsed Massie’s GOP primary opponent, retired Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein, a push that reflects deepening tensions within the party ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

Massie responded on X late Thursday, framing Trump’s insult as a reflection of their policy differences rather than personal animosity.

“The President of the United States called me a moron at the National Prayer Breakfast this morning because I’m still fighting for what he promised the American people,” Massie wrote. He then outlined issues he said he continues to champion such as reducing big government spending, ending foreign aid and opposing new wars.

In a separate post on his campaign account, Massie added that he largely votes with his party but said he diverges when he believes issues merit opposition.

“Trump attacked me at the National Prayer Breakfast today. I vote with the GOP in DC 91% of the time, because 9% of the time they’re bankrupting our country, starting another war, or covering up for pedophiles,” he wrote alongside the hashtag “#FeelingBlessed.”

The exchange capped off a tense week of public barbs between the two. Earlier, Trump used Truth Social to criticize Massie’s voting record and personal life, calling him “an absolutely terrible and unreliable ‘Republican’” while questioning Massie’s loyalty to party goals.

They joined with Democrats in a House vote on releasing files tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case and expressing constitutional concerns over military strikes without congressional approval.

Political analysts say the public spat underscores growing fractures in GOP ranks. Some Republicans have privately urged party leaders to tamp down public feuds, warning that intra-party attacks could weaken the party’s standing with voters ahead of key elections this fall.