On the night of the Missouri primaries, former President Donald Trump provided his highly-coveted endorsement in the Republican primary for Missouri’s vacant Senate seat, albeit there was some uncertainty on who had been chosen.
“I am delighted to declare that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement,” he said. “I trust the Great People of Missouri to make up their own minds on this one, just as they did when they delivered me landslide victory in the 2016 and 2020 Elections.” In a statement on Monday evening, Trump wrote.
Trump then reportedly eliminated everyone in the 19-person field who was not named Eric. Attorney General Eric Schmitt and former Attorney General Eric Greitens are the two front-runners, with one contender coming in third.
The semi-endorsement came as Schmitt gained ground in recent surveys, including one conducted by Emerson College and released in late July in which he had a 12-point advantage against Rep. Vicky Hartzler. The survey has Greitens in third place.
Greitens, a divisive candidate who resigned in 2018 following a sex scandal and misuse of campaign funds, has been losing ground in the polls since June after outside groups spent more than $11 million on advertising to prevent him from winning the primary and possibly putting this state up for grabs in the general election in November.
Greitens’ ex-wife also said earlier this year that he had assaulted her and their children; the Greitens campaign has refuted these claims. On Monday, Sheena Greitens reposted the accusations on Twitter.
Shortly after Trump’s statement, both Greitens and Schmitt claimed to have Trump’s full support.
“President Trump has looked at the candidates and all that’s at stake in this race, and he has given me his COMPLETE AND TOTAL ENDORSEMENT!” read a campaign fundraising email from Schmitt.
“Honored to have the support of President Trump! We will MAGA! ” Greitens tweeted. Greitens also has ties to Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, and he tweeted a video of Guilfoyle backing him.
There are three Erics competing, and Eric McElroy is one of them. According to a statement from Hartzler “Best wishes to Eric McElroy. He’s having a great evening.”
In July, Trump made it clear that he would not support Hartzler.