As he campaigns for U.S. Senator Roy Blunt’s seat, Attorney General Eric Schmitt said voters want to see an experienced Republican take the spot on Capitol Hill.
“People want a fighter,” Schmitt said. “They see what I’ve done, they’ve seen my record. They want somebody who’s going to go to Washington, D.C., who’s going to take these issues on in this really important fight to save America.
“You need serious people who are committed, lifelong conservatives who are going to fight that fight, and that’s why I’m running for Senate,” the attorney general said.
Schmitt is facing off against former Gov. Eric Greitens, Congressman Billy Long, Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, and attorney Mark McCloskey for the Republican nomination. A recent poll found Schmitt taking the lead in the GOP field.
Schmitt appeared on Sunday’s episode of “This Week in Missouri Politics” to discuss the campaign as well as COVID-19 responses around the state. Schmitt has leveled several legal challenges against mask mandates, including against school districts that require masks.
“I fundamentally don’t believe in forced masking of kids, and I think the parents ought to be able to make that decision based on science and based on evidence and based on facts,” Schmitt said. “It’s time to say enough because the facts and the evidence don’t support it. There’s no widespread study — this is very difficult for the opponents of this to accept — there’s no widespread study that supports this.”
Federal vaccine mandate
Barklage Company President David Barklage, FSB Public Affairs Senior Vice President Ryan Hawkins, GOP strategist Jamey Murphy, and Sharon Geuea Jones of Jones Advocacy Group joined this week’s panel to discuss the Biden administration’s controversial plans for employers with at least 100 workers to require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit weekly negative test results. In addition, all federal employees and contractors doing business with the federal government will need to be vaccinated, forgoing the weekly testing option.
While many — including Schmitt and Gov. Mike Parson — have decried the order as an infringement on freedom, Hawkins argued putting other people at risk by not getting vaccinated was its own type of infringement.
“It’s not a vaccine mandate; it’s if you’re not vaccinated, you need to get tested,” Hawkins said. “What we’re talking about here is doing the right thing for public health: Let’s get over this pandemic, let’s get vaccinated, let’s stop being selfish, and get off of social media being Facebook doctors.”
Barklage argued the mandate would harm the country’s vaccination efforts whatever the intent behind it may be.
“It looks to me like political advisors are running the White House, not the president,” Barklage said. “What I believe is it is a clever way to change the topic away from Afghanistan. … I don’t think it’s constitutional, I think all it’s going to do is make it harder to save lives.”
Watch the full episode of “This Week in Missouri Politics” below, or listen to the podcast version here.
Cameron Gerber studied journalism at Lincoln University. Prior to Lincoln, he earned an associate’s degree from State Fair Community College. Cameron is a native of Eldon, Missouri.
Contact Cameron at cameron@themissouritimes.com.
