Eric Greitens Loses to Eric Schmitt in Missouri Senate Primary Race Where Trump Endorsed ‘ERIC’: Projection

Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has been defeated by state Attorney General Eric Schmitt in the state’s Republican Senate primary, according to a projection.

The race was called by Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook political Report just 53 minutes after the polls closed.

I’ve seen enough: Eric Schmitt (R) wins the #MOSEN GOP primary, defeating Vicky Hartzler (R), Eric Greitens (R) and others.

— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 3, 2022

Former President Donald Trump endorsed both candidates in a confusing statement he released on Monday. In it, the former president ambiguously backed “ERIC.”

Trump wrote:

I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!

Both candidates claimed the endorsement, and Trump did not offer any clarity.

Greitens served as the governor of Missouri from 2017  to 2018. He resigned amid allegations he had taken nude photos of a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.

He was also plagued by other scandals.

In a statement announcing his resignation, Greitens cited the strain the scandals were putting on his family:

This ordeal has been designed to cause an incredible amount of strain on my family. Millions of dollars of mounting legal bills, endless personal attacks designed to cause maximum damage to family and friends. Legal harassment of colleagues, friends and campaign workers and it’s clear that for the forces that oppose us, there is no end in sight. I cannot allow those forces to continue to cause pain and difficulty to the people that I love.

Greitens, now divorced, was recently accused of physically abusing his former wife and their children.