Kinzinger on close Virginia race: ‘Would you rather have dysentery or the flu?’

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) took aim at the two candidates in the GOP primary for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, saying the choice between them is like choosing between “dysentery or the flu.”

“Well, in my mind, it’s like, would you rather have dysentery or the flu? So, you know, you got to pick that out,” Kinzinger, a CNN contributor, said Tuesday on “The Source” with host Kaitlan Collins. “You know, ultimately, at least one of them’s gonna lose. That’s the good thing.”

The race between Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.) and Virginia state Sen. John McGuire (R) was a nail-biter Tuesday, with the contest still too close to call as of Wednesday morning. Good faces an uphill battle in securing his spot in the primary after former President Trump endorsed his opponent.

If Good wins, it could be another blow to those endorsed by the former president. The Virginia incumbent had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) while he was running against Trump in the GOP presidential primary, but later switched his support to the presumptive GOP nominee after the governor suspended his campaign.

However, Trump appears to still be holding a grudge against Good, who chairs the House Freedom Caucus.

“He turned his back on our incredible Movement, and was constantly attacking and fighting me until recently, when he gave me a warm and ‘loving’ Endorsement — But really, it was too late! The damage had been done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Kinzinger told Collins that the race shows “the power of Donald Trump’s endorsement, but it also shows that Donald Trump never forgives you.”

“This is how you build a cult,” he added. “You do this, you make everybody scared to turn against you, and that’s what you’re seeing right now.”

The Hill has reached out to Good’s and McGuire’s campaigns for comment.