Donald Trump Endorses 'ERIC' in Missouri GOP Senate Primary

Former President Donald J. Trump announced his endorsement “ERIC” in the Missouri Republican primary for the U.S. Senate after his decision came down to two candidates: former Gov. Eric Greitens (R-MO) and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.

Earlier this month, Trump stated he would not be endorsing Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) in the race, setting up a dynamic where Greitens and Schmitt were in contention for his backing, as all remaining candidates were polling in single digits. After weeks of anticipation, Trump endorsed both candidates in a comical Truth Social post and deferred to the people of Missouri:

This is a BIG Election in the Great State of Missouri, and we must send a MAGA Champion and True Warrior to the U.S. Senate, someone who will fight for Border Security, Election Integrity, our Military and Great Veterans, together with having a powerful toughness on Crime and the Border. We need a person who will not back down to the Radical Left Lunatics who are destroying our Country. 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 Greitens and Schmitt have claimed the endorsement.

“Honored to have the support of President Trump! We will MAGA!” Greitens tweeted. 

“It is truly an honor to have President Trump’s endorsement in the Senate race,” Schmitt said in a statement, hours after an intern with his campaign downplayed the significance of a Trump endorsement.

While Trump has endorsed both candidates over the rest of the field Monday, he slammed the Schmitt campaign in a Truth Social post on Sunday night over a poll commissioned by operatives associated with his campaign, which several GOP strategists told Breitbart News undercounted Trump’s support in Missouri, with some suggesting it was done purposefully to boost Schmitt’s numbers.

“Wow, great dishonesty in politics. Too bad!” Trump wrote of the Remington Research Group poll. Remington was launched by the political consulting firm Axiom Strategies, which was founded by Jeff Roe — Schmitt’s top consultant.

“President Trump is way higher in Missouri than this poll states, and everyone knows it,” a GOP strategist told Breitbart News of the poll that showed Schmitt in the lead and Trump’s support in the 2024 primary at 42 percent. “Clearly, something funky is going on in Missouri with people trying to undermine Trump’s return to the White House. Take this with a very big grain of salt.”

The strategist added:

If this poll accurately measured Trump’s 2024 support and had it where it really is not where Schmitt needs it to be to make it appear as though he is leading, that means something like 20 or more points need to move towards Trump from this survey’s published results—and that means Greitens would jump significantly higher and Schmitt would fall. In addition, Hartzler’s number is far too high for this survey to be accurate. When Trump announced he was not going to be supporting her, crowds evaporated from her events and nobody went to them anymore. In reality, the field is probably currently Greitens in the low 30s in the lead by a few points, Schmitt in second somewhere in the high 20s, and Hartzler down in the low double digits or high single digits. And in reality, Trump’s support is far north of 65 percent and maybe even north of 70 percent—which is proof the pollster altered these numbers for some ulterior motive.