Former president Donald Trump‘s campaign on Friday sent a cease and desist letter to Virginia GOP Rep. Bob Good‘s re-election campaign, a senior Trump campaign official confirmed to NBC News.
The letter came after Good used Trump’s name and image to promote his campaign, despite the fact that Trump has endorsed his opponent, state Sen. John McGuire last Tuesday in a post on Truth Social.
“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,” the letter, penned by attorney David Warrington, said.
“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 Truth Social that he was endorsing state Sen. John 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’ now-defunct Republican presidential campaign 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.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
