I thoroughly enjoyed this CNN account of Republicans rhetorically punching each other in the snot-locker, stomping fellow caucus members’ insteps and kneeing one another in the beans with great force. The donnybrook concerns an upcoming GOP primary in the Virginia 5th between arch-conservatives Bob Good, the incumbent and GOP House Freedom Caucus chief, and challenger John McGuire.
House GOP reps are blasting each other with a level of rancor I can’t recall seeing before the whole party went feral. It’s hard to guess who is on the side of whom, given that everyone involved is a hard-right creep:
“Bob Good didn’t come here to govern. He came here to be famous,” [Derrick] Van Orden, a Wisconsin Republican, told CNN. “Bob Good’s wearing our jersey, and he’s not on the team.”
Van Orden added: “If you look at what we have not been able to accomplish in this Congress, it’s predominantly because of Bob Good and his ilk.”
Van Orden is a gigantic dick in his own right — you may recall him as the asshole who screamed and cursed at Senate pages who were lying on the floor in the Rotunda taking photos at the end of their term last year. And speaking of massive fore/dickheads:
“This is the most important primary in the country,” said [Florida Rep. Matt] Gaetz, who led the charge to oust McCarthy and has targeted two other sitting Republicans in their primaries so far this cycle. “Bob is our masthead. Bob Good is our leader among House conservatives to get us on the same page to ensure that it is the people’s interests that rise above the special interests. They know that they hate us. But you know what, there are more of us.”
Good backed DeSantis in the primary, which is the focus of most of the verbal slap-fights. Earlier this year, Trump advisor Chris LaCivita told a Virginia paper that “Bob Good won’t be electable when we get done with him.” But LaCivita declined the opportunity to slam Good anew for the CNN article, so perhaps Trump’s attention is on other things right now, like hoovering up RNC money.
Other members of the Deplorati also expressed opinions on Good:
Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, a former Trump Cabinet member who is backing McGuire, added: “We can do a lot better than Good,” he said. “We can do great.”
And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – who was booted from the Freedom Caucus last year after sparring with her GOP colleagues – has endorsed McGuire, saying Good “cannot be trusted and will work against Trump.”
“John McGuire endorsed and supported President Trump while you stabbed him in the back,” she posted on X.
Good angrily dismissed her.
“Nobody cares what Marjorie Taylor Greene says or thinks. And she’s a one-man show, she’s grandstanding and she wants attention,” Good said.
It would be a shame if these irredeemably terrible people kept hurling insults at each other, right up until the June primary vote! (I assume they’ll all scuttle back under their rocks if Trump opens his fat orange yap to endorse one of the candidates.)
I know nothing about the district, but my guess is if it elected Good, it probably isn’t gettable for Democrats. (Maybe knowledgeable friend of the blog Geminid or someone else with local knowledge will weigh in with a more informed take?)
Anyhoo, here’s hoping crushing pressure and high temperatures harden already hard feelings into a diamond-like consistency in the House GOP. Open thread!