Former President Donald Trump warned Virginia voters on Wednesday that if they support Rep. Bob Good, he will stab them in the back “like he did me.”
The one-sided feud between Mr. Trump and the arch-conservative Mr. Good, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, gained another chapter when the former president reaffirmed his endorsement of the lawmaker’s primary opponent, Virginia legislator John McGuire, in a new campaign video.
“John is running against Bob Good, who is actually bad for Virginia and who will stab you in the back like he did me,” Mr. Trump said in the video.
Mr. McGuire thanked the former president on X for doubling down on his endorsement and echoed that Mr. Good “can’t be trusted.”
Despite the increasing animosity from the Trump camp, Mr. Good has not fired back at the former president.
He instead has remained focused on Mr. McGuire, and contended that his opponent needed all the help he could get from outside endorsements because he lacked support on his home turf.
“Those who know him best like him least,” Mr. Good told The Washington Times. “The elected officials across the district are behind me, the GOP committee leaders or the respective GOP parties across the district are behind me.”
The bad blood began when Mr. Good endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president last year. But when Mr. DeSantis dropped out of the race earlier this year, the lawmaker immediately pivoted and threw his support behind Mr. Trump.
How Mr. Trump felt about the lawmaker was not publicly known until the former president endorsed his primary opponent in the race for Virginia’s 5th District late last month — just a few days after both Mr. Good and Mr. McGuire traveled to New York as a show of support during Mr. Trump’s hush money trial.
Since then, the Trump legal team has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mr. Good’s campaign demanding that the lawmaker stop using his name and likeness on campaign yard signs that suggest he has the support of Mr. Trump.
Mr. Good’s vote to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also earned him enemies within Congress and outside of Washington who have thrown their support behind Mr. McGuire, including the ex-speaker and House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers of Alabama and Reps. Ryan Zinke of Montana and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin.
Mr. Good was confident that he would win the June 18 primary against Mr. McGuire, but would not say if he thought Mr. Trump would regret not endorsing him.
“I’ll leave that to him to answer on June 19,” he said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.