Trump’s Ambiguous Missouri GOP Senate Endorsement Came With Congratulatory Calls to Both Candidates Named ‘ERIC’
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A new report sheds some light on the brainstorming former President Donald Trump did before issuing his…ambiguous statement on who he’s endorsing in the Missouri Republican primary for the U.S. Senate.
Politico reported on a meeting Trump held in Bedminster, N.J., after hosting the Saudi-backed LIV tournament at his golf course. The meeting came after Trump gave himself a Monday night social media deadline for himself in terms of whether he’d support former Missouri governor Eric Greitens or Attorney General Eric Schmitt, which he topped off with a non-endorsement announcing his support for “Eric.”
The report says Trump held a 7-hour meeting on who he’d endorse for the primary, and the discussions included RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and a rotating cast of pollsters, political figures, and others giving the former president input on who to choose.
In the first part of the meeting, Trump spoke with McDaniel and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) over the phone, and they warned him against endorsing Greitens. They reportedly described Greitens as a weak candidate, noting that his poll numbers have slipped amid renewed focus on how he resigned as governor amid sexual harassment and assault allegations.
Guilfoyle, who has been working with Greitens for the past year, eventually joined the meeting and argued that the GOP “establishment” was trying to pull Trump away from Greitens. This, eventually, led Trump to wonder about endorsing both Erics without choosing between them.
From Politico:
As the meeting wore on, those familiar with what transpired say, Trump began to lose patience. At one point it was suggested that he could endorse “Eric,” and that by doing so he would be supporting both Schmitt and Greitens.
It was a madcap exit ramp. But Trump went in on the details, asking if the two candidates’ first names were spelled identically — noting that it wouldn’t work if they weren’t. While Trump was intrigued, he also remarked that it might be too cute. He asked for draft endorsements to review, one announcing his support for Schmitt, the other for Greitens.
After consulting many other opinions, Trump reportedly “circled back to the idea of endorsing the two Erics, reasoning that there were pluses and minuses to both and that by doing so it would provide to each the opportunity to win with his support.” Despite all this, Trump called Schmitt and Greitens to notify them of his endorsement, without saying he was also endorsing the other.
Former President Donald Trump called Republican Senate candidate Eric Schmitt Monday evening, after posting on social media that he would endorse in Missouri’s GOP primary, and told him to look out for an announcement.
“You’ll be happy,” Trump told Schmitt.
What the former president didn’t say, according to two people familiar with the conversation, is that the press release would simultaneously back Schmitt and his rival for the GOP nomination, Eric Greitens. Greitens received a similar call in which Trump congratulated him on the endorsement and made no mention that he also endorsed Schmitt, Missouri’s state attorney general.
In the end, Schmitt and Greitens both seized on Trump’s endorsement announcement, celebrating it without acknowledging its ambiguous nature.
