WASHINGTON — President Trump escalated his war against Rep. Thomas Massie on Monday, formally endorsing a life-sized cardboard cutout of a yet-unnamed Republican challenger that campaign staffers had propped in a Mar-a-Lago ballroom for a photo op.

“I looked at this man, and I saw strength. I saw loyalty. I saw a guy who doesn’t talk back,” Trump said, gesturing toward the corrugated figure, which was printed with a stock photo of a smiling man in a navy suit. “Frankly, he’s got more spine than Massie ever had, and he doesn’t waste my time with constitutional questions.”

The cutout, which aides have temporarily dubbed Chip Boardman, has already raised $4.3 million in a joint fundraising committee with the Trump campaign, largely from donors who mistook the silent, unmoving figure for a disciplined frontrunner. A super PAC backing the cutout released a statement calling it “a candidate who truly reflects the president’s values — flatly supportive, easily moved, and recyclable in districts where his messaging fails.”

Kentucky voters expressed cautious optimism. “At least I know where he stands on a given issue, which is wherever the last person to touch him left him,” said Frankfort Republican and precinct captain Dwayne Slattery. “And honestly, the constituent-services response time on a cardboard cutout can’t be worse than what we’ve got now.”

The Massie campaign declined to comment, though a spokesperson later sent a single emoji of a recycling bin.