Senate candidate Eric Greitens claims his violent ‘RINO’ campaign video is a ‘metaphor’
Senate candidate Eric Greitens doubled down a day after posting an inflammatory ad, in which he and several armed militants violently storm into a house declaring, “we’re going RINO hunting.”
“It has a sense of humor,” the Missouri politico reportedly told local station KTFK.
The embattled ultra-conservative took his case to radio and social media Tuesday amid ongoing condemnation from both sides of the aisle.
Former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens speaking to reporters in Jefferson City Feb. 22, 2022. (David A. Lieb/)
Greitens’ video caused an uproar on Twitter, where online critics reflected on the circumstances surrounding the resignation of the former state leader’s gubernatorial seat. That’s also where ugly allegations made against him by his ex-wife resurfaced.
RINO, which stands for “Republican in Name Only,” is a pejorative term far right-wing Republicans use to insult traditional conservatives in the GOP. Greitens posted his ad a day after moderate Republican Adam Kinzinger revealed a death threat he said had been sent to his home by a political extremist.
“It is entertaining to watch the faux outrage of all of the liberal and RINO snowflakes around the country and the state,” Greitens told a KCMO host Tuesday. “The people who are most upset about this are the RINOs.”
He claimed his campaign was up against the “joined forces” of RINOs as well as the “mainstream media” and “the Left.” Greitens also mentioned taking on “the deep state.”
He contended Tuesday that “every normal person” in Missouri knows his campaign video is clearly a “metaphor.”
Giving an example — and speaking on the same day a bipartisan congressional committee in Washington, D.C., heard testimony regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection — Greitens said that when he states he’s going to “blow up the political establishment,” it doesn’t mean he’s going to attack the U.S. Capitol.
GOP Senate candidate releases violent ‘RINO hunting’ ad aimed at other Republicans
Greitens boasted to KCMO in March that he had been endorsed by conspiracy-peddling conservatives including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn, adding that his campaign is chaired by Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancee, Kimberly Guilfoyle. He also spoke then about all the forces conspiring to curb his political ambitions.
This image from video from a campaign ad by Eric Greitens for U.S. Senate, shows Eric Greitens, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, in a campaign video ad that shows him brandishing a long gun and declaring that he's hunting RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only.
The disgraced former governor resigned his office after a hairdresser claimed that he had taken her to his basement, bound her hands with tape, photographed her in a compromising position, then threatened to blackmail her with a photo he allegedly took. The case was dropped on account of prosecutorial misconduct. Greitens, a former Navy SEAL, admitted to an affair but denied legal wrongdoing. He left the state Capitol willingly amid buzz of impeachment.
Salon reported in April that court filings recently filed by Sheena Greitens, the politician’s former spouse, claimed to have documents indicating she had been the victim of abuse.
Rep. Liz Cheney: ‘We cannot let America become a nation of conspiracy theories and thug violence’
“When his public future is at risk, he becomes erratic, unhinged, coercive and threatening,” she said. “He accuses me of things that are untrue and generates conspiracy theories about me collaborating with his ‘enemies’ when I have done no such thing.”
In addition to ranting about being attacked by RINOs on the airwaves, Greitens tweeted “Together, we will fire the RINO career politicians and save America!”
The Missouri State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police called Greitens’ video “deplorable.”
