Missouri's U.S. Senate Race

Why I'm endorsing Eric Schmitt for U.S. Senate

Back in March, as people began tossing their hats in the ring for Roy Blunt’s soon-to-be-former Senate seat, I laid out my issue with one of the primary contenders.

A year and a half into his tenure the crown fell off because he was sloppy and got himself mired into a bunch of campaign finance scandals and an extramarital affair that played out in the press with accusations of abuse and a felony charge of privacy invasion. Greitens was arrested and ultimately resigned. I wrote all about this earlier this month the day that Roy Blunt announced he was not going to seek reelection — you should read all of it.

Greitens often says he was “fully exonerated,” which isn’t accurate. The consent decree states otherwise (some forget that it’s called a “consent decree” because both parties voluntarily agree); Greitens’s resignation was reportedly the price for dismissing the other charges.

The antics of Al Watkins (attorney for the ex husband of the mistress) have nothing to do with Greitens’s recklessness and sloppiness nor does the corruption of St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, who I’ve written about and discussed on air extensivelyas related to the McCloskey case. Gardner’s abuse of office has no bearing on Greitens’s innocence or guilt, rather if a competent, less corrupt Democrat lawmaker was in that office this story might have concluded differently. Kim Gardner didn’t make Greitens choose the steps he chose. In reality, Greitens got lucky that such corrupt and equally ridiculous politicians were in these positions.

Greitens isn’t just interested in the Senate, it’s clear that he has White House ambition. I think he’s undisciplined and reckless. This is a genuine and inarguable concern. I think his meager efforts to rehabilitate his image and then hurriedly go for another high-profile seat indicate a desire for power over service.

Greitens’s defenders insult Trump by comparing the two; they also like to bring up that I, like Kellyanne Conway, and many, many, many of the people in Trump’s inner circle and those who spoke for him on TV, backed another horse during the primary before unifying in the general election (and unlike some, I never accused anyone in the former First Family of “treason”). This fact has nothing to add or subtract from the issue which is the problem with Greitens (and that anyone even knows is because I am, as always, transparent and forthcoming unlike certain peers or the politicians I criticize).

Greitens won’t be rehabilitated by noting where others were during the 2016 primary, he won’t be rehabilitated by hyperbolically comparing himself to Trump — who legitimately was falsely persecuted by a hapless fourth estate that had to lie to certain press and take the subsequent stories to falsify FISA warrants against private citizens. In fact, the comparison dangerously diminishes the historical offense committed by a governing party and federal agencies against a private citizen seeking the White House.

I don’t like dirty primary races because I think it helps Democrats and I’m not a fan of how some of Greitens’s surrogates (some with whom I have history, a few who have asked me for favors in the past and later adopted the left’s penchant for nastiness, some who hate me because “Sloppy” Steve Bannon told them to) choose to smear conservatives who’ve fought for rights longer than Greitens has been a Republican as a penalty for those conservatives not bending a knee to facilitate these surrogates’s ascension to influence.

Whereas some people in politics ingratiate themselves with politicians for perks, access, and elevated stature by association, I can proudly say I haven’t been to D.C. in two years and do not keep any politicians as close personal friends. I prefer pinging between my home state of Missouri to my home in Texas, where we moved in 2013 for work purposes, where I can carry whatever gun I want and avoid the beltway drama.

Sadly, while I hope for it, I don’t have any expectations for civility in this primary and I’d caution people to not underestimate the real political opponent here, which is the Missouri Democrat party. I’ve been on the ground in too many Missouri races to ignore that party’s organizational abilities and their magical ability to bring in lots of outside cash. This is a race that cannot be lost. The battle to reclaim the Senate will be a brawl. It’s why I feel a fresh candidate is needed, one who hasn’t already blown his chances with poor decisions that he alone chose to make, a candidate who is already fighting for Missourians against unconstitutional mandates and gun grabs — a candidate like Attorney General Eric Schmitt. Schmitt has proven to be an absolute thorn in the Biden administration’s side on illegal immigration, mask and vax mandates, the Second Amendment, and more. I’m happy to recommend him as a dependable employee for Missouri taxpayers, a candidate with smart strategies and a record of fighting for Missourians.

I hope you’ll join me in supporting Eric Schmitt for U.S. Senate.