President Donald J. Trump proved to the Republican Party that the only way to meaningfully advance conservative policy is through strong, uncompromising leadership. That’s why as a Republican running for Missouri’s open U.S. Senate seat, I am committed to finding new leadership in the Upper Chamber when Republicans win back the majority in 2022.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s 46-year Senate career and 14-year career as the GOP’s leader in the U.S. Senate is not without accomplishment. It would be disingenuous to suggest he is anything but a conservative who has played a significant role in advancing our cause of the last four decades.

However, we have all watched this conservative fighter from Kentucky morph into the power-merchant of D.C., prioritizing special interests and personal influence over America. Now he is actively engaged in working against President Trump and the MAGA movement as we chart our path back to the majority—seemingly unaware why he even has his job in the first place.

After a General Election poll showed his Democrat challenger beating him last year, President Trump issued an endorsement for the Republican leader. On Election Day, McConnell was propelled to a 19-point victory.

It was not the first time President Trump stuck his neck out for the sake of party unity. But this is not about President Trump or his endorsement. It’s about the people throughout this nation who have made both so powerful.

It is about the America First agenda that has given a voice to flyover country, like my beautiful state of Missouri. It is about policies that have restored jobs, lifted wages and held our enemies accountable. And, it is about how Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and his D.C. cronies are actively trying to pick winners and losers in Republican primaries for the sole purpose of restoring their grip on power.

The reality is that the America First agenda is a direct threat to the D.C. swamp, and a strong MAGA movement makes Mitch McConnell an endangered species.

That’s why he is actively working against Trump-endorsed, America First champion Mo Brooks in Alabama, where McConnell allies are funneling millions of dollars into the campaign of his opponent, a career D.C. staffer. It is also why they are propping up RINO Senator Lisa Murkowski in Alaska.

It is no wonder why his allies, like Karl Rove, are opposing my campaign in Missouri. They think slick T.V. ads, backed by millions of dollars from D.C. special interests, will be enough to deceive our voters.

It is the same beltway consultants who viciously attacked then-candidate Donald J. Trump in 2016 and said he could never win. It’s also the same people who smeared National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Rick Scott when he ran for Governor in 2010 and claimed he was unelectable.

The swamp fights hardest against those who they fear the most, and they won’t let the truth get in the way of pushing patently false attacks.

McConnell has lost touch with our conservative movement. He has also lost his fight, and his leadership over the Republican Party does not represent our values. That is why I am committing to Missouri and the Nation that as a U.S. Senator, I will seek to support fresh, bold conservative leadership in the Senate.

I understand that coming out strongly against the D.C. powerbrokers may not be the politically “smart” decision, especially when our campaign maintains a commanding position in the race. I may be up by 40-points according to President Trump’s pollster, while also earning support from the largest conservative donors in the nation, but I am not just running to win this election. I am running to fight for Missouri and sometimes that means taking the tough stands, regardless of the political outcome.

Control of the U.S. Senate is not the only thing on the ballot in 2022, so is the direction of our party—and America cannot afford to go back to the GOP of yesterday. Missouri deserves a fighter and Republicans across the country deserve leadership that will confidently pursue the America First agenda. I am taking my stand here, and I encourage voters across the nation to demand candidates running for the U.S. Senate to take theirs.

Eric Greitens is the former Governor of Missouri and a candidate for the U.S. Senate.