Missouri GOP Senate showdown: Schmitt says Greitens baggage ‘definitely a concern’

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Missouri AG Schmitt says he's a 'fighter' in race for US Senate

Missouri Attorney General Rep. Eric Schmitt uses "fighter" resume as leverage in U.S. Senate race and views China the biggest threat to the US .

ORLANDO, Fla. – Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt highlights that he’s "a fighter" and argues that he’s in the "best position" to win his state’s crowded and divisive Republican Senate primary in the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Roy Blunt.

"We're in the best position in this race for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is, I think Missourians are looking for a fighter, somebody that's never going to quit on the state who's actually taking the fight to Joe Biden right now.," Schmitt emphasized in an interview with Fox News in Orlando at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the oldest and largest annual gathering of leaders and activists on the right.

Schmitt touted that "we're doing it. We're winning. We were the first state to file the vaccine mandate, won. We were the first state to file with Texas on the ‘remain in Mexico’ lawsuit and won. That's what people are looking for. Somebody who's unafraid, who's going to fight back. And that's what I'm doing as attorney general and take that same fighting spirit to the Senate."

GREITENS CLAIMS HE'S THE ONLY ‘REAL TRUMP CANDIDATE’ IN MISSOURI'S GOP SENATE RACE

Among the other leading contenders in the race are former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, who left office in 2018 amid a sex scandal and campaign misconduct charges, Rep. Vicky Hartzler in the 4th Congressional District, in the predominantly rural west-central part of the state, Rep. Billy Long in the 7th Congressional District in southwest Missouri, and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis attorney who along with his wife grabbed national headlines during the summer of 2020 for holding guns outside their home to warn off Black Lives Matter protesters.

GOP Senate candidate and former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens speaks with Fox News at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida on Feb. 24, 2022 (Fox News)

Polls suggest Greitens holding the edge over his main rivals, and speaking with Fox News at CPAC, he claimed "we have the endorsement of the people of Missouri" and "we support a strong border. We support election integrity. One of the other reasons why we’re winning is as the only real America First candidate in this race."

Greitens came under attack last week by many of his rivals as they formally filed their campaigns for Senate and pointed to his controversies, questioning whether Democrats could flip what should be a safe GOP-held seat in an increasingly red state if the former governor wins the Senate nomination.

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Greitens pushed back, noting that criminal charges of sexual misconduct were dropped and the former FBI agent who investigated the case was later indicted for perjury and tampering with evidence. 

And even though he paid fines for allegedly misusing a veterans' charity's donor list for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign, Greitens told Fox News, "After the longest investigation in its history, the Missouri Ethics Commission came out and they said, ‘We found no evidence of any wrongdoing by Eric Greitens.’ So the people of Missouri know I’ve been exonerated."

But Schmitt said that the possibility of the former governor winning the Senate nomination is "definitely a concern. You hear that everywhere." 

"I think when I win the nomination, all those concerns [go away] because you got somebody who can win the primary, win the general. And the stakes are high. It's a 50-50 Senate. You can't lose Missouri and take the Senate." 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (AP)

As Fox News first reported, Schmitt was recently endorsed by conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. But another popular figure on the right, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, endorsed Hartzler.

Schmitt said that he looks "forward to serving in the Senate with Josh Hawley. And I was certainly grateful for Senator Cruz’s endorsement, talk about a conservative fighter in the Senate that's fighting for all the right things. I look forward to joining him and Sen. Hawley in the Senate because we need to save this country."

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Greitens, in his Fox News interview, highlighted his pledge not to support longtime GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, a top intra-party Trump rival, the former governor emphasized, "I’ve also been very clear that when I’m in the Senate, I’m going to vote for new America First leadership."

Asked if he’d back McConnell if he wins election, Schmitt said, "I'm not going to deal with hypotheticals. I’ve got to get there first. I'm a little too superstitious, but I would certainly when it comes to that, lean on the advice of friends and supporters like Ted Cruz and people like Mike Lee."