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A great many congressional incumbents have faced primary challenges this year, but to date, none has lost. That said, the odds are that Rep. Bob Good will be the exception.
Primary Day for the Virginia Republican was last week, and while MSNBC and NBC News still consider his race against state Sen. John McGuire too close to call, the challenger is now ahead by 373 votes. As Politico noted, “That’ll be tough (though not impossible) for Good to make up.”
The far-right incumbent does not appear eager to accept defeat gracefully. On the contrary, as my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones explained, Good has responded to the latest developments in his race with odd conspiracy theories, lawsuit threats, demands for a “do-over” election in the city of Lynchburg, and vows to block certification of election results he doesn’t like.
Axios reported that the current chair of the House Freedom Caucus, at least so far, isn’t receiving much in the way of support from his GOP colleagues. In fact, the article noted that Good’s efforts to sow doubts about his possible defeat “are being met with eye rolls from many of his House Republican colleagues.”
“No one is buying it, but all understand this is one of the several stages of electoral grief,” said one House Republican, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The GOP lawmaker added that Good’s assertion of election irregularities is “the reflexive thing people who can’t accept loss say these days.”
Another House Republican told Axios, “Bob Good is a sore loser.”
Other GOP members were willing to go on the record. Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin said Good is “grasping at straws to help save his political career.” Rep. Mike Lawler said of Good, “What a loser.” Rep. John Duarte of California concluded, “Bob Good lost. It is very simple.”
At face value, these reactions are healthy, and to a very real degree, refreshing. Here we have a group of House Republicans — some from ruby red districts, others from districts that voted Democratic in 2020 — looking at election results and discounting dubious talk of irregularities. These GOP members have heard Good’s complaints, considered his conspiracy theories, and concluded that the smart move is to believe the available evidence.
And yet, I can’t help but notice that it wasn’t too long ago when election results also showed a certain former president losing, too. Like Good, he responded with odd conspiracy theories, lawsuits, demands for a “do-over” election, and efforts to block certification of election results he didn’t like.
Instead of “eye rolls,” House Republicans were only too pleased to embrace Donald Trump’s “big lie” as foundational to the party’s vision.
Is there any chance GOP members will want to explain the difference? Why is Good a "sore loser," while the former president is the party's presumptive nominee?
Do congressional Republicans realize that by validating Trump’s indefensible schemes, they encouraged members like Good, among others, to respond the same way to election results they disapprove of?