Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is all over the local, state and national news. Now that MO Senator Roy Blunt has announced he will not seek re-election, politicians on both sides of the aisle are coming out of the woodwork, teasing a Senate run.
Greitens is seeking out any media platform who will have him and doing just that. If the San Francisco Gate is paying attention, you know you’re on the radar, which is the primary goal:
“Eric Greitens’ political future seemed doomed by scandal when he resigned as Missouri governor. Now, he appears primed to test whether Sen. Roy Blunt’s retirement provides a path for redemption within a Republican Party searching for direction after former President Donald Trump’s election loss.
“Greitens, the 46-year-old ex-Navy SEAL officer whose fast political rise in 2016 was matched only by its swift decline two years later, has increasingly been laying the groundwork for a potential return to politics. He’s become a frequent guest on conservative radio and television, handed out masks to first responders, and has been outspoken on Twitter.”
And Greitens’s 2018 fall was spectacular indeed. My colleague Susie Moore, who hails from the great State of Missouri, reported on it during that time:
“After months of controversy emanating both from an extra-marital affair he acknowledged but disputed allegations that he had photographed the woman in a state of undress and threatened to publish it should she reveal their affair and from allegations surrounding improper use of a donor list as part of his campaign, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens has just held a press conference announcing that he is resigning.
“As reported by the St. Louis Post Dispatch:
Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on Tuesday announced he is stepping down in the face of an impeachment effort, an adverse judicial ruling and and multiple criminal investigations.
The announcement came hours after damaging testimony by a former campaign aide to a House committee investigating Greitens, and a separate ruling by a judge forcing the governor’s campaign to reveal fundraising information.
Rumors spread Tuesday afternoon after both developments that Greitens had decided to resign. Allegations surrounding Greitens led to an unprecedented split in Greitens’ Republican party, leaders of which led efforts to impeach him.
“There appeared to be a growing likelihood that the Governor would be impeached. The resignation obviously renders that moot. The potential criminal cases remain in play, though.”
However, thanks to Bill Clinton, extramarital affairs and corruption charges ain’t what they used to be, and Greitens could easily double a Senate run with a redemption tour.
Susie Moore is apoplectic that this not happen. Per her Twitter:
Love you @MarcCox971 but the continued indulgence of Greitens is gross. He's toxic. I'd like to know where the $120K came from, too. But have you ever wondered who the $$ backers of a dude who was a Dem until a millisecond before he declared for Gov are? #BadNews
— Susie Moore (@SmoosieQ) March 9, 2021
Susie also had this to say,
“He [Greitens] was all over radio yesterday playing footsie with it.
“He’s trying to springboard off of Trump’s popularity here and liken himself to Trump (an outsider taken down by an unjust political smear/the Jeff City Swamp).”
Greitens definitely wants back on the inside of national politics, and I see this teasing of a run as just him making that known. Here’s Greitens on Newsmax’s John Bachman talking like he’s been MAGA and an America First Trump supporter since he was in training pants:
Former Governor @EricGreitens, who has been rumored to explore a Senatorial run, is excited to have support Missouri citizens who liked Trump and the ‘America First agenda.’ [with @JohnFBachman on Newsmax TV: https://t.co/VlT7z8v2lm] pic.twitter.com/FwLi9NVb4t
— Newsmax (@newsmax) March 11, 2021
“This is very much a party where President Trump is in the driver’s seat,” Greitens told Bachman.
Greitens’s ain’t no fool. He’s definitely a smart politician, and any smart politician knows whose ring—or ass—to kiss.
Word to the wise: Anyone who is truly America First and actually stands by their principles should steer clear of him. That includes anyone connected to former President Trump. You’ve been warned from the local pulse, and a national perspective.
Greitens is a grifter who is attempting to mount the America First train in order to ingratiate himself into power. He is not unlike San Diego County Board of Supervisors Nathan Fletcher, who is married to the infamous Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-Honey Trap). Fletcher was a Republican and married to a former George W. Bush staffer, but was hungry for higher office. Fletcher started cozying up to Democrats, and Lorena Gonzalez, and low and behold, he changed parties, divorced his first wife, did a failed run for Mayor of San Diego before second wife Gonzalez strong armed him into the Supervisors seat. The toxic duo has been infecting California politics ever since.
Greitens had some of that trajectory, making a quick change from Democrat to Republican before he ran for Governor. Opportunistic, for sure—and, it worked.
Fletcher and Greitens are cut from the same cloth, Greitens is just much smarter and better at his grift. I seriously doubt Greitens will actually run, but we have our hand on the pulse in the event he does.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member