Virginia GOP U.S. Rep. Bob Good is attacking Americans who do not follow “God’s laws,” and blaming them for all of society’s ills.
Good, a 56-year old freshman, won the seat held by moderate Republican Denver Riggleman, one of the few in the GOP who have denounced QAnon. Riggleman also warned Republicans about the “weaponization” of “tribalism.”
Congressman Good on Tuesday stood on the House floor and falsely declared, as has been widely reported, “nearly everything that plagues our society can be attributed to a failure to follow god’s laws for morality and his rules for and definition of marriage and family.”
His refusal to observe the wall between church and state, especially while speaking on the House floor is disturbing, but so is lying to children.
Earlier this month Congressman Good spoke to a group of 20 or so Rappahannock County, Virginia high school students as part of a public school program, and urged them all to defy the school’s mask mandate.
“If nobody in Rappahannock [High School] complies, they can’t stop everyone,” he told the students. “If I was ya’ll, I’d say none of ya’ll wear a mask. What are they gonna do? They’re still going to have school.”
Rep. Good also “spread anti-vaxx lies and other Covid-19 information while speaking to a high school government class,” according to Rolling Stone.
After refusing to wear a mask himself, his speech and Q&A with the students had to be held outdoors, as the Rappahannock News reported:
Good’s speech to the students included misinformation about masks and vaccines, saying that President Joe Biden and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, both Democrats, are “lying to us about the effectiveness of masks.” Good said there is no scientific evidence that proves the efficacy of masks, and that COVID-19 vaccines pose more of a health risk to teenagers than the virus itself.
The GOP congressman, who holds an MBA from the right-wing Christian Liberty University, also pushed his anti-abortion and anti-choice views, claiming “science says life begins at conception.” He told the students, according to Rappahannock News, that colleges and universities, with the exception of faith-based Christian schools, are “going to try and change what you believe” because they are “dominated by the left.”
He added that he thinks there should be video cameras in classrooms so parents can see what their kids are learning, and that he is against history curriculum that includes Critical Race Theory, which is not taught in Rappahannock schools.
Congressman Good, a self-described “biblical and constitutional conservative,” just weeks ago bragged about following the far right anti-LGBTQ hate group Family Research Council “for years.”
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