We’ve been following and reporting on the US Senate race here in Missouri closely. The candidates are vying to replace the retiring Roy Blunt, a Republican, and with Missouri being a fairly red state, the presumption is that whoever wins the GOP primary will prevail in the general election in November. (Caveat: That presumption holds less water if former Governor Eric Greitens wins the nomination, given his extensive baggage.)

With the primary in August, we’ve entered endorsement season. While it remains to be seen which — if any — of the candidates will garner the coveted Trump nod, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has already picked up a plum endorsement — that of Senator Ted Cruz:

“I’m proud to endorse Eric Schmitt for U.S. Senate in Missouri. Eric is a fighter who will hold China accountable, defend religious freedom, take on Big Tech, and he will protect American jobs,” said Senator Ted Cruz.

“Senator Ted Cruz is a conservative leader and fighter who has never been afraid to fight back against the Left who want nothing more than to eradicate our freedoms and accumulate more power and control,” said Attorney General Eric Schmitt.  “We need more fighters in the United States Senate like Senator Cruz, and I am honored to have his support in my campaign and in the fight to save America.”

Schmitt has also been endorsed by the Senate Conservatives Fund…

🚨MAJOR ENDORSEMENT ALERT🚨 @SCF endorses @Eric_Schmitt for U.S. Senate.

"He is precisely what we need in Washington right now: a fighter, a truth-teller, and a defender of America’s Constitution and culture." pic.twitter.com/z0uoijuoMm

— Team Schmitt for US Senate (@Schmitt4Senate) April 8, 2022

…as well as the National Association for Gun Rights.

🚨@Eric_Schmitt Receives Major 2A Endorsement from @NatlGunRights 🚨 https://t.co/y2wAMQwBtn

— Team Schmitt for US Senate (@Schmitt4Senate) March 28, 2022

Now, Schmitt can add another prominent name to that roster: former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien. An attorney and native Californian, O’Brien was a major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps of the U.S. Army Reserves. He served in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. Under President Trump, O’Brien served as the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs from May 2018 to October 2019. In September 2019, O’Brien became the 27th National Security Advisor for the United States, succeeding John Bolton in the role.

Along with the endorsement, Ambassador O’Brien had the following to say about Eric Schmitt:

“America needs leaders in the U.S. Senate who can stand up to China. Eric Schmitt has fought to hold China accountable for their unleashing of COVID-19 and supports President Trump’s America First agenda,” said Ambassador Robert O’Brien (ret.). “There is no Attorney General in the country that has stood up to China more than Eric Schmitt and that’s why we need him in the U.S. Senate.”

O’Brien would know. Characterized as a “hardliner” on China, he threatened sanctions against China if it enacted a national security law against Hong Kong. O’Brien also likened Chinese President Xi Jinping to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in a June 2020 speech in Arizona, noting of the Chinese government:

“It locks up millions of Muslim Uighurs and other minorities in reeducation camps where they are subjected to political indoctrination and forced labor, while their children are raised in Party-run orphanages,” he said. “This process annihilates family, religion, culture, language and heritage.”

O’Brien tried to disabuse Americans of the notion that they are outside Beijing’s reach, saying the Chinese Communist Party seeks to “control thought beyond the borders of China” and target and blackmail people to serve the party’s interests.

“This is ‘micro targeting’ is beyond an advertiser’s wildest dreams,” he said. “China, unlike advertisers, will not be stopped by government regulations. The Chinese Communist Party simply wants to know everything about you—just like it knows almost everything about China’s citizens.”

Ambassador O’Brien’s endorsement is a solid nod towards Attorney General Schmitt’s mettle and willingness to stand up to the toughest of adversaries.