‘Please don’t endorse Eric Greitens,’ he begged Trump. Missouri, you get the last word
Conservative talker and writer Hugh Hewitt has surveyed the Republican field for Missouri’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022, and found a name he doesn’t like.
This week on his radio show, Hewitt implored Donald Trump to endorse anyone other than Eric Greitens for the GOP nomination. “Please don’t endorse Eric Greitens,” Hewitt said. “That’s a nightmare, Mr. President. We’ll lose that seat.”
Trump hemmed and hawed. He called the Missouri race “very interesting,” but declined to not-endorse Greitens.
“He’s right now leading by quite a bit,” Trump told Hewitt.
“I know, but he will lose the seat. We will lose the seat,” the host replied.
“I understand that,” Trump said “OK, some people feel that.”
There’s much to unpack here. Hewitt is right: Nominating Greitens for the Senate would be a nightmare, but not because he might lose to a Democrat. Greitens resigned in disgrace following a sex scandal, and after angering virtually everyone in Missouri with his my-way-or-the-highway approach.
Greitens is a disaster, and shouldn’t get within shouting distance of the U.S. Capitol. No one should endorse him, or vote for him either.
But some of Greitens’ opponents are equally scary, which is a problem. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt beclowns himself on an hourly basis — he’s now encouraging citizens to secretly take video of children playing in schoolyards. Yikes.
Schmitt wrote a scathing letter this week to President Joe Biden, in advance of the president’s trip to Kansas City. It was written on official letterhead. Someone might remind Schmitt that a predecessor served time in prison for using state resources on a political campaign.
There is still time for a commonsense Republican to seek the Senate seat. We hope that candidate steps forward.
That candidate would almost certainly decline a Trump endorsement. It isn’t clear why Hewitt believes Missouri voters are sheep, ready to blindly follow Trump’s recommendation about a race in a state he knows nothing about.
Missouri voters are independent and smart. They’ll support the best candidate, not the one who most aggressively kisses the former president’s, um, ring.
And they should not rely on any endorsement from someone who values polling more than character. “He’s now leading by quite a bit” isn’t a good reason to recommend anyone for high office, let alone Eric Greitens.
Missouri’s Senate race race hasn’t really started — the filing deadline is still months away. The announced candidates are stampeding to the right, which is grotesque, but not surprising. We hope the field grows, and more thoughtful Republicans seek the job.