Trump touts Long in Missouri Senate race amid Greitens allegations

Former President Trump on Wednesday offered praise for “big, loud, and proud” Rep. Billy Long (R) in the Missouri Senate primary amid allegations that rival GOP candidate Eric Greitens abused his ex-wife.

Trump in his statement specified that he wasn’t formally endorsing Long, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2011, saying he was “just askin’.” 

But the former president encouraged the “great people of Missouri” to consider the congressman’s Senate bid.

“Do they appreciate what they have in him, a warrior and the first major political leader to say, ‘You better get on the Trump Train, it’s leaving the station,'” Trump said in the statement.

The Missouri Senate race was rocked this week after Greiten’s ex-wife, Sheena Greitens, alleged in an affidavit that her ex-husband was physically violent with her and their children.

She also said that in one incident, Greitens, the former governor of Missouri, bought a gun and threatened to kill himself if she did not provide political support for him prior to his 2018 resignation.

Multiple Republicans, including several of his fellow primary rivals, have called on Greitens to drop his bid. 

Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), whose seat the candidates are vying for, said that if the allegations are true, Greitens should drop his bid.

“If the filings are true, he should not be a candidate for the Senate,” Blunt said on Tuesday.

Whether Trump’s intervention will halt Greitens remains to be seen; recent polls have shown him leading the GOP primary field. Republicans remain concerned that the former governor will lose in a general election, with one recent poll showing Greitens only narrowly leading his hypothetical Democratic rival.