small, shrunken soul vestige of the GOP. From Politico:

Missouri Senate candidate Eric Greitens is rising in former President Donald Trump’s eyes — and an episode at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference shows why.

The controversial former governor ran into a Trump ally in Orlando, Fla., who jokingly offered him tickets to a Trump-hosted private reception — but with a catch: He had to tweet out his opposition to the former president’s archnemesis, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell .

No problem, Greitens laughed: He’d already said he wouldn’t support McConnell as Republican leader if elected, and he didn’t mind saying it again. After firing off a tweet declaring “No More RINOs [Republicans in Name Only]. I’m not voting for Mitch McConnell,” Greitens snapped up a pair of tickets and headed into Trump’s closed-door event.



The moment illustrates how Greitens — who resigned as governor in 2018 after his hairdresser accused him of sexually assaulting her — has gained favor with Trump and some in his inner circle. Greitens has staunchly aligned himself with the former president, become a favorite of the pro-Trump media universe, and distinguished himself as one of the few Republican Senate candidates willing to speak out against McConnell. Now, Trump, who in the past has privately criticized the former governor over the scandal that led to his downfall, is telling people he’s open to endorsing Greitens — despite fears among other powerful Republicans that the Missouri Republican is the only GOP candidate who could potentially lose the seat in November.

Trump’s flirtation with Greitens was on display Monday when he sent out a press release promoting the article the former governor wrote for Breitbart News last fall calling for McConnell’s ouster as leader. Last week, Trump privately met with the candidate for an hour at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida, where Greitens came armed with a copy of that Breitbart op-ed and polling data showing him leading the primary field. Trump remarked that Greitens was performing well and told the former governor he had an open mind about whom he may support, according to a person familiar with the discussion.