Trump's campaign tells Freedom Caucus chair to stop using his name, image for re-election
Representative Bob Good, R-Virginia, received a cease-and-desist letter from former President Donald Trump’s attorneys on Friday to halt the use of the presumptive Republican nominee’s name or likeness as the head of the Freedom Caucus seeks re-election.
Good, who represents the state’s 5th Congressional District, a predominantly rural Republican stronghold that voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, is being challenged by state Senator John McGuire, who received Trump’s endorsement on Tuesday, in an apparent snub to the incumbent Good.
“It has come to our attention that your campaign is producing yard signs purporting to indicate President Trump’s endorsement of your candidacy,” David Warrington, Trump’s attorney, wrote to Good’s campaign. “You know that is false. In fact, President Trump has endorsed your opponent, John McGuire.”
Trump cease and desist by newsmaven on Scribd
Good is one of at least 20 federal Republican lawmakers who recently traveled to New York to support Trump during his six-week hush money trial. McGuire also paid a discreet visit to the Lower Manhattan courthouse the same day as Good. Both campaigns confirmed the Virginia candidates traveled to the courthouse in the same motorcade as the former president. Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30.
‘An abuse of voter trust’
“To be clear, neither you nor your campaign are authorized to use President Trump’s name or the Campaign’s to falsely imply their support of your candidacy. Nor are you or your campaign authorized to claim that you represent or are otherwise associated with President Trump or the Campaign,” Warrington wrote in his letter to Good.
Warrington noted that producing and displaying campaign materials with Trump’s name or likeness associated with Good’s was a “fraud on the voters of Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District.” He also noted that using Trump’s name or likeness on any of Good’s fundraising materials is a fraud on campaign donors.
“It is an abuse of voters’ trust to make such false statements,” Warrington wrote.
Good’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment, and Trump’s image appears to have been scrubbed from the congressman’s campaign site Friday evening.
New voter law upends Fifth District primary
Good has faced a primary challenger in his past federal elections, but this year, the contest will be different due to a new state law that went into effect in January.
That law had one unintended consequence: It all but outlawed conventions in any election, including party primaries, in Virginia.
Good, elected to federal office in 2020, won his past primaries through conventions on what critics have called “his turf” in a district that spans nearly 200 miles from top to bottom. In both races, he garnered less than 2,000 votes at those conventions in a district with roughly 562,925 active voters, according to data from the Virginia Board of Elections.
“He has, in effect, campaigned and legislated for those 2,000 people. I believe he has not represented the voices of everyone in his district, and I think that’s a real vulnerability,” John McGuire said in a recent interview with USA TODAY.
In the solidly Republican Fifth District, the GOP primary winner is expected to win the Congressional seat.
Both Republican primary candidates have parroted narratives driven by Trump about the validity of the 2020 election results. Many of those narratives have been proven false.
McGuire attended the Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, 2021 but has said he did not enter the Capitol Building. Good voted against certifying the 2020 election, and said he stands behind that decision in a recent interview. Both continue to cast doubt on the 2020 election results.
Neither has committed to accepting the results of the 2024 election in recent interviews with USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Trump issues warning to Rep. Bob Good to stop using name, likeness
