House Freedom Caucus Leader Begs Speaker Johnson to Help Him Save His Seat

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good is pleading with Speaker Mike Johnson for help in fending off a primary challenger backed by Good's colleagues. Wow. That's embarrassing.

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Virginia Republican Bob Good is a second-term Congressman who was elected Freedom Caucus chairman in January 2024. He's facing a very tough primary challenge from state Senator John McGuire of Goochland County. Some of Good's colleagues, miffed by his role in the defenestration of Kevin McCarthy, are campaigning in Good's district for his opponent.

John McGuire will have a slew of House Republicans as special guests at a Wednesday fundraiser, including House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), a member of Good's own Virginia delegation, according to a copy of the invite first obtained by POLITICO. Three lawmakers who are also former Navy SEALs will also be there to support McGuire, who is a former frogman himself: Reps. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) and Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas).

Good's supporters are tossing the RINO label around to describe Good's opponents. But he has one critic who is out for vengeance.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was kicked out of the House Freedom Caucus last summer, is on the campaign trail for state Senator McGuire.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is among the lawmakers outside of Virginia looking to bolster McGuire's bid to unseat Good - and she isn't shy about her thoughts on her right-wing colleague. 

'He is the biggest backstabber,' she told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview this week. 

Greene's vendetta against Good and his Freedom Caucus stems from the some 50-member group's vote to boot her from the group her behind her back. She was also aligned with McCarthy.

She noted that Good took around $2 million in his 2022 election from a McCarthy-aligned super PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), then turned around and voted to kick the California Republican out of the top House job.

'That is an incredible amount of money, and then turn around, stabs him in the back and votes to vacate him as speaker. This is a pattern of behavior,' Greene said. 

'I think people in Bob Good's district need to understand what a liar and backstabber Bob Good is,' she went on.

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Meanwhile, some of Good's Freedom Caucus colleagues have hit the hustings with him.

Along with [Matt} Gaetz, [Andy] Biggs and [Chip] Roy, the Virginia congressman was joined by Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde, Virginia Del. Tom Garrett — himself a former Freedom Caucus member who left Congress in 2018 due to his alcoholism before reentering politics last year — and Mark Meadows — a former chair of the Freedom Caucus who later served as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff and played a significant role in Trump’s doomed attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

What makes Good's plea to Speaker Johnson so humiliating is that the Freedom Caucus hasn't helped Johnson out. Worse than that, Good has quite a track record to live down.

It gets more awkward from there. Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) is asking Speaker Mike Johnson for assistance. But as allies to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy vividly remember, the ex-GOP leader spent $2 million to help Good win in 2020, only to watch the conservative rebel help toss McCarthy overboard three years later.

The embattled Good now wants Johnson’s endorsement and a pledge not to help his primary opponent, who’s trying to turn support for former President Donald Trump into a wedge issue with the base. Good’s challenger is a major threat to the second-term Freedom Caucus chief’s future in Congress — and as center-right colleagues gang up on him, help from Johnson and his allies could be a major boon.

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Good's seat is rated Solid/Safe Republican, so this permits a little intraparty violence with no real danger to the caucus, no matter how it falls out. *Unexpectedly* the big issue is who is more loyal to Donald Trump. While the Freedom Caucus is viewed by most as Trump loyalists, one of McGuire's lines of attack against Good is that he betrayed Trump. "On the day our president was wrongly indicted," said McGuire, "Bob abandoned Trump by endorsing another candidate." Because McGuire has held state elective office in Virginia since 2017, Good has taken to labeling him as a swamp creature.

“This race represents more than just the 5th District. This represents defeating the swamp’s efforts to strike back, and they have found a willing candidate in liar McGuire,” Good told the crowd, invoking a Trump-esque nickname for his opponent.

McGuire is a former Navy SEAL and a small business owner. The Virginia legislature is a part-time gig. Judge for yourself who is more swampy.

If you're interested in the race, you could do worse than reading this analysis.

There is no polling data, but watching mainstream GOPers fund a candidate attacking Bob Good from the right is hilarious.

Whatever decision Speaker Johnson makes carries a lot of risk. If he rescues Good, he knows in advance that Good will not help him, and if history is a guide, he will shiv Johnson given the opportunity. On the other hand, McGuire promises to be like some other Freedom Caucus members who appear to be more interested in their social media profiles than trying to accomplish anything. 

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