Will Virginia GOP Primary Voters Prove Trump Is A Loser Again? June 18 Will Tell
As the NY Times demonstrated yesterday, Trump is a lot of things— and different things— to the American people. But, despite his legendary vengefulness, one thing he wasn’t was a modern day version of Dickens’ Madam Defarge, from A Tale of Two Cities. She kept track of the enemies of the pre-revolutionary working class by very methodically knitting their names into her work—in effect using her knitting as a form of coded communication, embedding the names and identities of those she deems as enemies into her knitting patterns, allowing her to maintain a record of those who are marked for retribution while appearing to engage in a harmless activity.
Trump is nowhere as focused and systematic as Thérèse and if Freedom Caucus chairman Bob Good (R-VA) appears to be Trump’s Charles Darney— or any Evrémonde— it is hardly because he was Trump’s worst enemy, let alone least repentant— but because others are using Trump against Good for their own vengefulness, namely Moscow Marge and Kevin McCarthy. It isn’t any Trump knitting that has turned him against Good, but Traitor Greene and McCarthy. Sure, Good endorsed his old comrade Ron DeSantis for president, but by helping expel Greene from the Freedom Caucus and helping Gaetz take the gavel away from McCarthy, he sowed the seeds of his own destruction.
Yesterday, Patrick Svitek noted that with the exception of Good, House Republicans who backed Trump challengers cruised to primary victories. Most didn’t draw Trump’s ire or competitive primary opponents and that, wrote Svitek belies “the narrative that crossing the famously vindictive Trump can be a political death wish for members of Congress.” I think he gives Trump far too much credit when he attributed that to the need for Trump to keep the GOP unified as he goes into a tight race for the White House. Trump sure wasn’t looking at unity when he endorsed the neo-fascist opponent of state House speaker, Dade Phelan in Svitek’s own Texas. Phelan never even took any actions against Trump. Trump just allowed himself to be used as a tool— to be manipulated by his own allies, in this case, extremist Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Svitek noted that DeSantis’ endorsers Thomas Massie (KY) and Rich McCormick (GA) “cruised through their primaries,”McCormick with Trump’s endorsement (though he didn’t need it since he had no extreme MAGA nut running against him).
If Thérèse was cooly efficient under he red hot rage, Trump’s clumsy and ridiculous. Trump, noted Svitek “publicly called for primary challengers to Rep. Chip Roy (TX) in December as Roy was making trips to Iowa for DeSantis. But the Texas filing deadline had passed a week earlier, and Roy was unopposed. More recently, Trump issued a request for primary opponents to another DeSantis backer, Rep. Laurel Lee (FL), but the state’s candidate filing deadline passed last month without any high-profile names stepping forward.”
Lee’s primary opponents, public relations man James Judge and real estate agent Jennifer Barbosa, poser no threat to her. Neither has raised even the $5,000 that would require them to file an FEC report, no Trump allies have the district on their radar for independent expenditures and Trump hasn’t even hinted he may endorse either.
“Ralph Norman, the only House Republican to endorse Haley, has not drawn any opposition in South Carolina’s June 11 primary. The lone exception to the trend appears to be Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), who is in a fierce June 11 primary against a challenger, John McGuire, who has attacked him as a ‘Never Trumper’ for backing DeSantis before Trump. Trump endorsed nMcGuiree on Tuesday, saying Good ‘turned his back on our incredible movement’ and was too late to fall in line behind the former president.”
Good’s predicament is unique, however. He has also drawn the ire of former House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)— whom he helped oust last year along with seven other Republicans— as well as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), a vocal Trump ally who has said Good “betrayed” the former president.
Trump’s penchant for political retribution is well-known. Of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, just two are still in office— and Trump is backing a primary challenger [Tiffany Smiley] to one of them, Rep. Dan Newhouse (WA).
Some of the House Republicans who endorsed Trump’s primary opponents took highly public roles with their campaigns. Norman introduced Haley at her campaign kickoff, and in addition to Roy, Massie and McCormick went to Iowa to campaign for DeSantis.
Lee’s support for DeSantis also stood out. A former secretary of state appointed by DeSantis, she was the only House Republican from Florida to endorse him.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform in late March to ask if “any great MAGA Republicans” were willing to challenge Lee, and if so, to “PLEASE STEP FORWARD.” Massie came to Lee’s defense, saying on Twitter that more Republicans should denounce Trump’s “ridiculous bullying tactics.”
Early voting has begun in Virginia's Republican primaries and so far, with 3 weeks to go, McCarthy and his allies have spent $2.7 million attacking Bob Good and bolstering John McGuire. There's a lot more coming. If Good is reelected Trump will look like a chump with no teeth.
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