Senate hopeful’s gun video yanked
WASHINGTON — Facebook on Monday removed a campaign video by Missouri U.S. Senate candidate Eric Greitens, while Twitter blocked it from being shared, because the ad showed the Republican brandishing a shotgun and declaring that he was hunting RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only.
In the video, Greitens identifies himself as a Navy SEAL and says he’s going RINO hunting. “The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice,” he whispers outside a home before a tactical unit breaks through a door and throws what appear to be flashbang grenades inside.
Greitens enters an empty living room through the smoke and says, “Join the MAGA crew. Get a RINO hunting permit.”
The video comes at a time of renewed focus on gun violence and violence in politics following fatal mass shootings and threats to government officials. Two weeks ago, a man carrying a gun, a knife and zip ties was arrested near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house after threatening to kill the justice.
On Sunday, Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans serving on the congressional committee investigating the origins of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, said he recently received a letter at his home threatening “to execute me, as well as my wife and 5-month-old child.”
Facebook said in a statement Monday that Greitens’ video was removed “for violating our policies prohibiting violence and incitement.” Twitter said Greitens’ post violated its rules about abusive behavior but said it was leaving it up because it was in the “public’s interest” for the tweet to be viewable.
It’s the latest dramatic move made by Greitens as he looks to jolt lackluster fundraising and move past graphic allegations of domestic abuse made in March in a sworn affidavit filed by his ex-wife in March in the former couple’s child custody case.
Greitens stepped aside as Missouri’s governor in 2018 amid a scandal involving accusations of blackmail, bondage and sexual assault.
Greitens has denied the allegations. But they’ve continued to dog him on the campaign trail.
Once a swing state, Missouri has become more reliably Republican in recent years. But the race is nonetheless receiving national attention because some in the GOP establishment are anxious that, with his scandals, Greitens would be vulnerable against a Democrat.
And with the Senate evenly divided, the GOP can’t afford to lose what would otherwise be a safe seat.