Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Bob Good a ‘liar’ and John McGuire a ‘loyalist’ at rally

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., joins Virginia Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, in Louisa County on June 5, 2024 to support his bid to represent Virginia's 5th Congressional District. (Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)

Sen. John McGuire, R-Goochland, and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stepped off a bus emblazoned with former President Donald Trump’s name and image in Louisa County on Wednesday, smiling like longtime friends. 

The state and federal politicians have only interacted in recent months, but Greene said she trusts McGuire and hopes he’ll become her future colleague in the U.S. House of Representatives. McGuire, a state senator and former state delegate, is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Bob Good, R-Campbell, in a Republican primary for Virginia’s 5th congressional district.

Greene joined McGuire outside Louisa County’s election office on June 5 as part of a mini tour in his district to include a stop in Albemarle County near Charlottesville. She previously was slated to join him at other events around the district last month but was summoned back to the U.S. Capitol for votes. 

She told the crowd of about 50 in Louisa that she was impressed with McGuire’s service as a state legislator, former Navy SEAL and unwavering loyalty to the once-and-possibly-future president Donald Trump. 

It’s the Trump factor and endorsements from high profile members of congress like  Greene that have contributed to heightened national attention on the race. 

Good had backed Trump in 2020. He briefly supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential run in May 2023 — around the time news had broken of Trump’s multiple indictments — before immediately re-endorsing Trump in January of this year when DeSantis dropped out of the race. McGuire has described Good as a “Never Trumper” in campaign materials. 

“By definition, you can’t be a ‘Never Something’ that you have documented evidence that you currently are [a supporter of],” Good said at a campaign event last month. 

But Greene characterized the move as a “stab in the back” at Wednesday’s rally.

“Then the day that Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race — because we all knew he couldn’t win — guess what? Bob Good went running back on his social media within an hour and endorsed President Trump.”

She repeatedly noted the Bob Good signs outside of the event that had Trump’s name on them, implying an endorsement he does not have. Last week Trump’s campaign sent a cease and desist letter to Good to take down the misleading signs. Last month, Trump’s campaign officially endorsed McGuire. 

Good spoke Trump’s name and admired policy proposals frequently in 2020, when he was first elected to congress and he went on to become chairman of the House Freedom Caucus — congress’ most conservative group.

The primary contest between Good and McGuire is tantamount to victory in the Republican-leaning district, which stretches from Albemarle County east towards Richmond and down to Danville near the North Carolina border. 

Both candidates overlap on policy stances  — from backing tighter U.S.-Mexico border security, to supporting the Second Amendment and anti-abortion legislation, along with finding ways to curb inflation. Both men also believe that Trump won the 2020 election: a member of Good’s staff as well as McGuire himself attended the Jan. 6, 2021 “Stop the Steal” rally in D.C., but each assert they did not participate in the violence that ensued when people stormed the Capitol. 

Both candidates have drawn ire from within their party, however. Good, for his brief abandonment of Trump and for helping to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Ca. McGuire, for questionable loyalty to his constituents as what Good termed “a perpetual candidate.” 

McGuire has mounted multiple bids for congress in recent years and declared his 5th district run last November just days after being elected to the state senate. He asserts that he’d been asked by others to run and finally decided to after he felt Good hadn’t been open enough with his constituents. 

“Even if you disagree, I’m gonna be respectful,” he said of his approach to politics. “And I was just like, ‘you know what, I’m going to answer the call.’”

Countering the support from Greene and Trump’s endorsement, Good has his own allies. Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz has campaigned for Good in Virginia and later this week, both former Republican Virginia 7th District representative Dave Brat and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon will join Good at an event in Powhatan County. 

Asked about his thoughts going into the June 18 primaries in Virginia, McGuire said he’s going to pretend he’s behind until he wins. On the work he’s been able to be a part of in the state legislature, he noted the teamwork component of it and listening to constituents. 

“I get people and the room, and — not me, but we — solve the problems,” McGuire said. 

Greene also noted how this time Good is being challenged in a primary instead of a convention — which she called an “unfair” process. 

In a district of over 750,000 people, about 2,000 people were able to participate in the 2022 Republican convention. While conventions are organized by political organizers, primary elections are state-administered and open to all voters in a district. 

The 5th district currently leads with the most early votes, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. 

“Everyone gets to vote this time,” Greene said. “This is a referendum — are they going to send a liar back to Washington who doesn’t support our next president or are they going to send loyalists like McGuire?”

The post Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Bob Good a ‘liar’ and John McGuire a ‘loyalist’ at rally appeared first on Virginia Mercury.