During last week’s chairmanship election for the far-right House Freedom Caucus, Rep. Bob Good was directly pressed by board members on perhaps one of his most controversial moves inside the GOP: backing Ron DeSantis over Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Good’s response, according to a source familiar with the conversation, was that he would ultimately get behind Trump if he is the GOP presidential nominee, but explained he thought it was better to have a candidate who could serve eight more years instead of four, which is why he threw his early support behind the young Florida governor.
The rabble-rousing Virginia Republican was ultimately elected this week to serve as the head of the House Freedom Caucus, a high-profile role that will put him front-and-center of some of next year’s biggest funding fights and in direct conflict with the new speaker, Mike Johnson, who will be forced to negotiate with Democrats.
But the exchange about DeSantis, which has not been previously reported, suggests there was at least some skepticism about Good taking the reins of the House Freedom Caucus, which is home to some of the former president’s staunchest allies. His endorsement could also be a liability for Good’s own reelection race, where he is now facing a pro-Trump Republican challenger using his DeSantis endorsement against him.
And Trump is not the only powerful Republican whom Good has crossed this year: Good was among the small band of hardliners who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy as speaker in October, plunging the House into weeks of chaos and dysfunction as Republicans fought bitterly among themselves to find a new speaker, ultimately settling on Johnson.
Despite making his share of enemies inside the GOP, Good said he is ready to hold Johnson’s feet to the fire and has no regrets about his decision to boot McCarthy and…
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