ST. LOUIS–On the same day a former college classmate and supporter of his 2016 gubernatorial bid called for him to drop out of the race for the U.S. Senate, Eric Greitens released a new campaign ad, evoking imagery from that first campaign.

Greitens, who was roundly criticized for a previous ad that suggested he was on a military-style hunt for Republican political opponents, released another on Wednesday that included a clip from the 2016 race where he took “dead aim at politics as usual.”

The new ad features an armed Greitens, walking in a field, joined by unidentified armed people behind him dressed in camouflage who Greitens calls “an army of patriots.”

The new ad uses a turn of phrase used by former President Donald Trump at rallies—”Because I fought for you, they came after me,” Greitens said in the ad. Greitens resigned in 2018 over legal and ethical investigations connected to an affair with his former hairdresser.

The ad release came at the same time the man who along with Greitens co-founded the non-profit service organization The Mission Continues, called on Greitens to get out of the race.

First in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and later with a social media post, Ken Harbaugh recounted Greitens’ excitement after returning from the 2008 Democratic National Convention that nominated Barack Obama for the presidency, and of how Harbaugh and Harbaugh’s mother both contributed financially to Greitens’ race for Governor in 2016. 

Harbaugh would eventually seek public office, losing an Ohio congressional race in 2018. 

“What you are doing now is not honorable, and it is not a reflection of the Eric I knew. Even if you do win, you are going to lose more than you can imagine by campaigning like this,” Harbaugh said in a Twitter video that denounced Greitens’ campaign tactics that critics say encourages political violence. 

“What you are doing now is going to get someone killed,” Harbaugh said, pleading for Greitens to drop out of the race.

The Greitens campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Harbaugh Wednesday.

Schmitt’s “Blowtorch” approach

Another leading contender in the Senate race on the Republican side, Attorney General Eric Schmitt released a new ad this week. Instead of guns, Schmitt was armed with a blowtorch, which he promised to take to President Biden’s “socialist agenda” if elected. The ad highlights areas where Schmitt has gone to court against the Biden administration on immigration policy, challenged school district COVID mask mandates in court, and how he “stood with President Trump to stop election fraud.” 

There are caveats to each of the claims. Schmitt’s legal challenge to the Biden administration’s push to end the Trump era “Remain In Mexico” immigration policy was rejected last week by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 that federal authorities had discretion to release asylum-seekers into the country while they await hearings. Legal experts say the ruling leaves room for Missouri and Texas, the states that filed the original case, to present lower-court procedural challenges.

While Schmitt claims that he “sued to get rid of Fauci’s COVID mandates,” he did not sue Dr. Anthony Fauci, the White House medical advisor. Schmitt sued dozens of Missouri school districts over their mask mandates. In several cases, the suits were dropped. Schmitt’s office claims they were dropped because districts changed their policies after being sued, while education officials say the mask policies changed because COVID numbers did.

Schmitt joined other Attorneys General in challenging Pennsylvania’s mail-in ballot law in 2020. Despite multiple legal challenges and recounts, authorities have not found evidence of fraud on the level that would have overturned the outcome of the presidential election.

Latest polling

In case you missed it, new polling in the Republican primary was released July 1. According to The Trafalgar Group’s survey of 1,072 likely GOP primary voters, U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler holds a close lead well within the margin of error over both Greitens and Schmitt, with 16.7 % undecided.