House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA) last week blasted a group of House Republicans for backing John McGuire – his primary challenger.
The far-right congressman took to X (formerly Twitter) to call out his GOP colleagues as RINOS (Republicans in name only).
Politico noted that the GOPers' endorsement for McGuire goes against Good go against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA)entreaties for Republicans to refrain from campaigning against each other in primaries, as the party tries to keep its control of the lower chamber."
READ MORE: Freedom Caucus Chair blasts GOP colleagues for campaigning against him: 'RINOs'
Now, US Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) has told CNN he's joined the group of Republicans campaigning against the Freedom Caucus chair.
"Bob Good didn’t come here to govern. He came here to be famous," the Wisconsin congressman said. "Bob Good’s wearing our jersey, and he’s not on the team. 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."
CNN notes:
The toxic infighting that has dominated the House GOP majority – and has now landed squarely in Good’s conservative district in rural Virginia – is part of a larger battle over the direction of the GOP. As many Republicans in Washington say that compromise and consensus with Democrats is the way to govern in divided government, Good and his bloc of members excoriate such deal-cutting as they push their no-compromise approach.
However, the news outlet reports Good remains unmoved, saying, "voters in his district don’t care what his colleague from Wisconsin thinks. And he pointedly accused many of his Republican colleagues in Washington of casting votes that hurt the country and undermine the conservative cause."
Calling Republicans "stupid," he told CNN voters in his district have "never heard of Derrick Van Orden. They could care less what Derrick Van Orden thinks.You come to these things, and you ask questions that nobody here cares about. You bring up Derrick Van Orden, which is a joke."
The far-right leader emphasized, "RINOs, establishment moderates do nothing to influence Republican primary elections. Conservative, courageous warriors like those endorsing me today and being here with me today are the ones who my constituents care about."
McGuire, who's an ex-Navy SEAL told the news outlet in a Friday, March 29 interview "Good’s conduct is 'embarrassing' and that the congressman’s 'name-calling' of fellow Republicans is 'so childish.'"
He added, "I believe that my opponent wants to burn it all down, no solutions kind of guy I think that we need leaders that want to grow the party and unite our country. If you are helping the Democrat team take out the Republican team, who is the RINO?"
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*CNN's full report is here.*