Trump’s Bad Blood with Bob Good Spells Disaster for a Republican Future
Conservatives and Republicans can't expect to get anything done if merit constantly has to be thrown out to appease the narcissism of a septuagenarian baby.
US Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) has a 100% conservative voting record according to Heritage Action and Conservative Review. He gets 100% conservative issue scores on life, family, and LGBT, and ranges from the 90s to 100% on guns and immigration (depending on grading group and year). He’s a member and former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. He endorsed Donald Trump as “the greatest President of my lifetime” on January 21. He made the pilgrimage to stand in solidarity with Trump outside the New York courthouse for the porn-star payoff trial.
Yet Donald Trump won’t stop trying to destroy him, because he dared to prefer another Republican candidate when there was a real choice.
In May 2023, Good endorsed Ron DeSantis for the Republican nomination, declaring America needed his “strength in the face of adversity” and “courageous conservative leadership” to “stand against the insanity of woke corporations, corrupt Washington politicians, and continued attacks on our faith, families, and freedoms.” Good did his team-player dance just hours after DeSantis dropped out, presumably hoping that the above effusiveness would appease the mercurial malignancy who currently rules the GOP.
No such luck. Days before DeSantis dropped out, Trump henchman Chris LaCivita threatened that the reliable conservative vote “won’t be electable when we get done with him.” On May 28, Trump himself endorsed Good’s primary opponent, ex-Navy SEAL and Virginia state lawmaker John McGuire, in typical Trumpian fashion:
Bob Good is BAD FOR VIRGINIA, AND BAD FOR THE USA. He turned his back on our incredible movement, and was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently, when he gave a warm and “loving” Endorsement - But really, it was too late. The damage had been done! I just want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that can most help me do that is Navy Seal and highly respected State Legislator, John McGuire, a true American Hero. John, who fought the Cartels on the Front Line, and then came home and fought the drug dealers in Virginia, will ALWAYS PUT AMERICA FIRST. I had the safest Border in history, built hundreds of miles of Wall, and then Crooked Joe Biden came along and ruined it, making it one of the worst human catastrophes ever in our Country. John and I will correct this situation, and fast! He is strong on crime, will protect our great Military/Vets, and will always defend our under siege Second Amendment. John McGuire has my Complete and Total Endorsement! MAGA2024
MAGA airhead Marjorie Taylor Greene scrawled that she was “very pleased” with Trump’s “denouncement of back stabbing traitor” Good. Days later, Trump lawyers (apparently somehow finding free time) sent Good a cease-and-desist letter over Republican yard signs featuring both his and Trump’s names. On June 3, Trump reposted the above tirade verbatim.
For the record, Good does not strike me as a model of Republican excellence. His voting record is solid, but voting the right way is by far the easiest of a lawmaker’s duties (making it all the more remarkable that so many can’t do even that). He was part of the revolt against Kevin McCarthy, which would have been fine due to McCarthy’s swampiness except for the lack of a plan to replace him with anyone better (hence Mike Johnson and the inevitable calls to replace him). And the extent of Good’s post-primary groveling doesn’t speak well of his courage or independence.
But still, you don’t try to oust an incumbent of your own party unless it’s over a legitimate issue (and no, “LOVE ME DAMMIT” doesn’t qualify). You certainly don’t risk the loss of a 100% conservative voting record with four years’ worth of battles over conservative legislative priorities coming up...at least, not unless you have no intention of fighting for conservative legislative priorities.
This is not an isolated incident; from day one Trump’s endorsement decisions have been dominated by two factors: “who stokes my ego the most,” and “whose probable win will help pad my winning endorsement record” (with the first consideration far outweighing the second). As a result, the GOP is every bit as swampy as when he first pledged to drain it, while tainting the party brand with loudmouth fools like Greene, JD Vance, and Kari Lake.
This is not sustainable. Conservative Republicans and grassroots activists can’t build support for conservative goals, oust delinquent members, correct problem trends, cultivate a compelling message or appealing long-term brand, or sustain and expand a durable majority if merit constantly has to be thrown out to appease the narcissism of a septuagenarian baby. It’s a recipe for a party to keep getting weaker, dumber, less conservative, and more repellent to ordinary voters—a phenomenon that is currently being somewhat obscured by Joe Biden’s awfulness, but won’t be after Trump moves back into the White House, and his eventual (probably hand-picked) successor has to face a Democrat newcomer who isn’t sundowning.
This raises some of the most important questions those who demand we vote for Trump in November have yet to answer: how do we break this influence after rewarding it? How do we get good nominees through Republican primaries under these conditions? And what happens when stuffing the halls of Congress with sycophantic trash leads to a blue wave in 2026 and 2028?
It's abundantly clear by now that the grifter class has no interest in dealing with any of this. So at this point, the best of conservatives’ bad choices remains the nuclear option: rebuke the source of the problem before it’s too late.