Conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt begged former President Donald Trump not to endorse disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens in the Missouri Senate race.
Trump appeared Wednesday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” and told the host that some “big endorsements” will be announced soon.
“Please don’t — please don’t endorse Eric Greitens. That’s a nightmare, Mr. President,” Hewitt told Trump. “We’ll lose that seat. But that’s Hugh Hewitt’s opinion, not yours.”
“Well, that’s an interesting opinion, that’s true,” Trump replied. “He’s right now leading by quite a bit.”
“I know, but he will lose the seat,” Hewitt said. “We will lose the seat.”
“I understand that. OK, some people feel that,” Trump said right before the interview concluded.
Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, Rhodes scholar, and the first Jewish governor of Missouri, resigned from the statehouse in 2018 amid a scandal that involved alleged misuse of a mailing list for a charity he founded to benefit fellow veterans and an affair with his hairstylist at the same time he was married to his second wife.
He was accused of threatening to leak nude photos of the hairdresser if she revealed the relationship — something he has denied.
Greitens has sought Trump’s support since the start of his campaign in April.
The former president did not say when he would announce an endorsement in the Missouri Senate race, or for Senate races in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Greitens is up against multiple opponents who hope to replace Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who’s not running for reelection. The primary field also includes Reps. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., and Billy Long, R-Mo., Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and state Senate President Pro Tempore Dave Schatz.
According to the Springfield News-Leader, Long visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago last month. He told a Missouri radio station that he went alongside Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, who Long has hired as an adviser.
Long told 93.9-FM The Eagle that Trump had ruled out two candidates, though he didn’t elaborate on who they were.
Republicans are seeking to regain control of both chambers of Congress next year. The Senate currently is split evenly along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast a tie-breaking vote for Democrats.
