Release: New Ad—Greitens Responds to Koster’s False Attack

St. Louis, Missouri — Republican nominee for governor of Missouri, Eric Greitens, released a new television ad on Friday to respond to Chris Koster’s most recent false attack.

Watch the new ad here. 

Transcript:

Running for office, you expect to be attacked. But for helping veterans? This is why people are sick of politics. I donated my combat pay to start The Mission Continues, refused two years salary to get it going, and spent every dime possible helping veterans find jobs. Chris Koster will probably keep lying. That’s what career politcians do. But I fought for what’s right, and that’s what I’ll do as governor.

The Facts:

• Eric Greitens did not collect a salary during his first two years with The Mission Continues. He donated his combat pay to found the organization and slept on an air mattress in a spartan apartment for months to get it started.

• Chris Koster is attacking Eric Greitens for taking an average of about $100,000 in salary over the course of his seven years in a leadership role with the charity. That is less than Chris Koster takes from taxpayers every year as Attorney General.

• Experts have confirmed that Greitens’ salary was completely in the norm for comparable organizaitons.

• The Mission Continues has awarded more than 1,600 paid fellowships to veterans around the country, brought over 8,000 veterans together in service platoons, and engaged thousands of volunteers to serve their communities.

• From 2008-2013, The Mission Continues spent an average of 83.3% of its funds directly on its core programs and beneficiaries—well above the recommended 65% from the Charities Review Council.

• The claim that The Mission Continues hired “image consultants” for Greitens is thoroughly debunked by the agency’s own description of their work. 

• The Mission Continues has been nationally recognized for its high ethical standard. It has a perfect four-star rating from the watchdog group Charity Navigator and was awarded the Better Business Bureau Torch Award for “exceptional ethical business practices and customer service” in 2012.

• In 2010, The Manhattan Institute named The Mission Continues one of the five most socially innovative organizations in the country, highlighting it as an example “of the strength and honor of our military men and women both on the battlefield and on the homefront.”

• One of The Mission Continues’ early fellows, Tim Smith, described his time with The Mission Continues as life-saving.