Former President Donald Trump‘s campaign on Friday sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rep. Bob Good‘s re-election campaign, a senior Trump campaign official confirmed to NBC News.
The letter came after the Virginia Republican used Trump’s name and image to promote his campaign, even though Trump endorsed his opponent, state Sen. John McGuire, in a post on Truth Social last Tuesday.
“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,” read the letter from attorney David Warrington.
“Producing and displaying materials that give the false impression that President Trump is supportive of your candidacy is a fraud on the voters of Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. It is an abuse of the voters’ trust to make such false statements,” Warrington added in the letter.
The letter also featured an image of campaign signs in Virginia with Trump’s name above Good’s.
Just days before the letter was sent, Trump announced on his social media platform that he was endorsing McGuire, who is running against Good in the Republican primary.
In his post, Trump made a thinly veiled reference to Good’s endorsement of Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary as a reason for endorsing his opponent.
The former president accused Good, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus, of turning “his back on our incredible movement,” and added: “The damage had been done! I just want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that can most help me do that is Navy Seal and highly respected State Legislator, John McGuire, a true American Hero.”
Beyond the yard signs, Good’s campaign website also featured an image of Trump as recently as early May, according to a snapshot on the Internet Archive.
The image was under a website header called, “Endorsements: Who’s Supporting Bob,” though it did clarify near the photo that the endorsement was from 2022.
Now, an endorsement by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is featured most prominently on the site.
A spokesperson for Good’s campaign did not respond to an immediate request for comment on this story.
