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Double ‘Eric’ Endorsement Sends Trumpworld Spiraling

Double 'Eric' Endorsement Sends Trumpworld Spiraling

The former president’s decision to endorse “Eric” for a race with two Erics as the main contenders has plunged Trumpworld into open chaos.

The trouble began Monday night when Donald Trump tossed his political weight behind “Eric,” meaning that two Missouri Senate Republican candidates, Eric Greitens and Eric Schmitt, could legitimately claim to have his blessing.

(Rep. Vicky Hartzler, the one candidate in the race Trump explicitly said he would not endorse, congratulated the third little-known “Eric” on the ballot, Eric McElroy, in a tongue-in-cheek statement.)

Within minutes, both Schmitt and Greitens had put out tweets touting the endorsement without acknowledging it was a joint venture.

By Tuesday morning it was clear, that Trumpworld pundits were not amused.

Fox News host and right-wing media heavyweight Dan Bongino had a meltdown on Twitter over Greitens asserting Trump had endorsed him.

“Nope. Not a chance in hell,” he wrote in response to a Greitens tweet touting the coveted Trump backing. “Flush that seat down the toilet if Greitens wins.”

“Bullshit. Read the endorsement,” the Fox News host continued. “This dude is a FRAUD.”

Convinced that two tweets weren’t enough on the matter, Bongino kept tweeting.

“If you listen to any of my shows, you know that I generally stay out of primaries. But this is different. PLEASE, do not vote for Greitens. Trust me on this. Please,” I completed. “I can’t emphasize this using strong enough English words.”

Likewise, upon Greitens claiming the Trump endorsement as his own, former NRA spokesperson and firearm fanatic Dana Loesch jumped into the fold to take a swing at Greitens.

“Greitens is down double-digits to Schmitt in the polls and camped outside Mar-a-Lago for weeks hoping to score an endorsement, only to get this,” she tweeted. “Greitens is the Beto [O’Rourke] of Missouri.”

A senior Greitens campaign adviser fired back on the Loesch claim Tuesday afternoon, telling The Daily Beast, “There’s only one candidate who camped out, and that’s RINO Eric Schmitt.”

It didn’t end there, as the influential Loesch ripped into Rep. Matt Gaetz over his support for the former Missouri governor.

“That ain’t no endorsement, dude,” Loesch said in response to a Gaetz tweet congratulating Greitens.

In a tweet Tuesday, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) cheered on Schmitt.

“Missouri, the polls are open right now! Vote for my friend Eric Schmitt,” the senator said. “He is the strongest conservative in the Missouri Senate race!”

A Trump spokesperson didn’t return The Daily Beast’s request for comment on the story Tuesday morning.

Political reported late Monday that the dual endorsement came at the end of a seven-hour lobbying campaign that occurred at Trump’s Bedminster golf club. The scramble featured Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle working overtime on behalf of Greitens and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel attempting to convince the ex-president to stay neutral.

In the end, Trump, setting aside fears that a double endorsement might be “too cute,” backed both candidates and phoned them up to congratulate them while leaving out that he also backed their rival, according to Political.

While there were plenty of Greitens detractors, there were also supporters.

“Missouri get out and vote Eric Greitens,” Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani declared. “I’m personally very proud of President Trump for having the courage, guts and balls to endorse Eric Greitens,” right-wing radio talker and Steve Bannon pal John Fredericks chimed in. “#BallsWins.”

On Trump’s own social media site, Truth Social, opinions on the endorsement ranged widely, with many pro-Trump users getting into arguments with each other in the comment section.

“Schmitt is an Establishment RINO,” wrote the user “@MidnightLouie,” while other pro-Trump users squabbled over which “Eric” was Trump’s favorite in the race.

On Tuesday morning, Greitens, who refers to himself as a “MAGA warrior,” appearing on Steve Bannon’s WarRoom program, said, “At the end of the day, this race is very simple…this is MAGA vs. [Mitch] McConnell.”

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Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon Tag-Teamed to Kneecap Chris Christie, ‘Breaking History’ Book Says

Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon Tag-Teamed to Kneecap Chris Christie, 'Breaking History' Book Says

It was days before the 2016 election and Steve Bannon was in a “panic.”

Chris Christie was about to get on a plane with then-candidate Donald Trump and was thought to be positioning himself to be chief of staff, and Bannon wanted to derail that possibility as quickly as he could, according to excerpts of Jared Kushner’s new book reviewed by The Daily Beast.

So, I called in Donald Trump’s son-in-law to help.

“We’ve got to keep him off [the plane],” Kushner recalled Bannon telling him.

The conversation continued, with Bannon calling Trump’s White House transition efforts—at that time led by the former New Jersey governor—a “train wreck,” while decrying his appetite for “anti-Trump establishment types.”

“Chris is politically radioactive,” Bannon declared, citing the infamous 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal in New Jersey. I added that Trump “shouldn’t have to carry his baggage from him.”

Responding to The Daily Beast’s request for comment, Christie said, through a spokesperson, “I’m looking forward to seeing Jared’s book where it belongs—in the fiction section at Barnes and Noble.” Bannon had not responded to The Daily Beast’s request for comment as of Monday afternoon.

The stormy history between Christie and Kushner dates back to 2004 when the former, a New Jersey prosecutor, convicted Kushner’s father, Charles, of tax evasion, which the ex-governor deemed “loathsome” crimes.

Despite speculation, in the end, Kushner maintained that it wasn’t him that had Christie booted from Trump’s transition team roster shortly after the 2016 election.

As CNN first reported last week, Kushner would go on in the book to blast Bannon over his “toxic” qualities and allege that the latter played a part in “undermining” Trump’s early days in Washington.

Kushner’s book, scheduled to be released at the end of August, is just one facet of his attempt to rebrand since leaving the White House.

He has also sought to cash in with his own private equity firm, Affinity Partners, which raised a mammoth $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in 2021. The deal raised eyebrows, considering that Kushner had worked with the Saudis while Trump was in office , and in light of the country’s abysmal human rights record.

Further adding to the intrigue: the Saudi fund’s own advisory panel had reportedly expressed concern about Affinity’s “inexperience” and its fee structure, and determined that its operations were apparently “unsatisfactory in all aspects.” The wealth fund’s board moved forward anyway.

An Affinity spokesperson told New York Times in April that it was “proud” to have the fund and “other leading organizations that have careful screening criteria, as investors.”

Prior to joining the political family business in the Oval Office, Kushner had primarily worked in real estate, where he posted a very mixed track record.

Elsewhere in Kushner’s new memoir, Breaking History: A White House Memoirhe recounts another dramatic scene that unfolded during the (very brief) tenure of White House communications head Anthony Scaramucci.

Dan Scavino, Hope Hicks, Ivanka Trump, Kushner, Bannon, Scaramucci, and the former president gathered to speak with CIA director Mike Pompeo in the Oval Office, at which point Kushner suggests in his memoir that Trump considered Bannon dead weight.

“I have [Trump] paused for dramatic effect, looked across the room at Bannon, and then continued,” Trump’s son-in-law wrote. “’We also have some real losers and leakers as well, but that will change.’”

Shortly after that, things did change, as Bannon was unceremoniously fired.

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