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A recently released political ad slams Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt — a candidate in the Show Me State’s Republican U.S. Senate primary — for his ties to a radical who called for then-President Donald Trump’s assassination in 2017.
The ad, which was released by the Super PAC Secure Our Freedom Action Fund and can be viewed here, notes that Schmitt “partnered with a radical Democrat who called for Trump’s assassination.” The Super PAC — which is pro-Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), another candidate in the race — referenced a Breitbart News article from this month that chronicled Schmitt’s ties to radical Democrat Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a former legislator who called for Trump’s assassination.
Just under two months before Schmitt held a private fundraiser at Trump’s luxurious Mar-a-Lago estate this past March, Chappelle-Nadal tweeted an image of her and Schmitt smiling together with the caption, “7 years ago today. We are still moving mountains.” Mariana Deal, Schmitt’s communications director in the attorney general’s office, liked the tweet — years after her calls for Trump’s assassination made national headlines.
In this Sept. 10, 2014, file photo, Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal speaks on the Senate floor in Jefferson City, MO. Chappelle-Nadal says she posted and then deleted a comment on Facebook that said she hoped for President Donald Trump’s assassination. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Breitbart News reached out to Chappelle-Nadal, who said the picture was “a nice memory” and detailed a close working relationship with Schmitt when they were in the state senate together, including how they worked on legislation that Democrats like.
“Senator Schmitt and I worked very well together from opposite sides of the aisle while serving in the Missouri Senate,” Chappelle-Nadal told Breitbart News. “He took the lead in the senate to address predatory fines by municipalities shortly after the Ferguson Uprising. Senator Schmitt also supported my legislation giving disadvantaged and minority students educational alternative opportunities.”
In 2017, Chappelle-Nadal sent out a Facebook post that stated, “I hope Trump is assassinated!” as Breitbart News reported at the time. Her comments sparked a Secret Service probe into whether she was serious or not, as well as a slew of bipartisan censures from Missouri politicians, including calls for her resignation. Among those who called for her step down were then-U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Stephen Webber — the state’s Democrat Party chairman at the time — and then-Gov. Eric Greitens (R-MO), a Republican whom Schmitt is now running against for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate.
Nonetheless, the embattled state senator refused to step down from her position, though she did apologize, and continued on with her radical ideology. In 2018, she demanded the creation of slave reparations in Missouri while speaking on the Senate floor during a debate over a tax bill.
When Breitbart News asked if Schmitt, who at that point was out of the state senate and was state treasurer, condemned the comments in 2017, his campaign devolved into a meltdown, failing to adequately answer questions and deflected into a full-blown attack on Greitens, that is much in line with establishment Republican talking points. Rich Chrismer, a spokesman for his campaign, noted that “[o]f course General Schmitt condemns the comments.” While he condemned the comments in the present tense, Breitbart News pressed for documentation he did so in 2017, but the campaign could not provide concrete evidence, asserting he “said as much in local radio interviews at the time,” which there is no way of corroborating.
Greitens offered his thoughts on the revelations in a recent appearance on Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Saturday.
“Eric Schmitt continues to be one of her friends. He obviously has to answer for himself,” Greitens said. “I mean, I find it despicable that an elected official, that Nadal, would say something and not resign. I called for her to resign when I was governor, and I think anybody who still associates with her should seriously consider disavowing her. But that’s the kind of differences in this race, the really bright contrast.”
Defend Our Freedom PAC also pointed out that “Jeff City politician Eric Schmitt spent years selling out Missouri to help communist China.” The ad touched on themes highlighted in a previous ad from the Super PAC, which ripped Schmitt for partnering “with Democrats to help Communist China,” “[w]riting a bill to use [Missourians] tax dollars to fund a ‘China Hub’ in St. Louis,” and voting “to sell Missouri farmland to China.”
Tell that to #MOSen candidate @Eric_Schmitt A.K.A. #ShanghaiSchmitt. While in the #Missouri Senate he voted to change our ‘no foreign ownership’ law to allow a Chinese company to buy @SmithfieldFoods along with 40,000 ACRES OF MISSOURI FARMLAND!!! Says he’ll be tough on #China ♂️
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) July 26, 2022
Schmitt has painted himself as an America First candidate, but between his China-friendly work in the state senate and his ties to Chappelle-Nadal, serious and pressing questions are now on the table as to if he will help Democrats and establishment conservatives in the U.S Senate continue to pass anti-MAGA policies should he be elected senator.
While the Defend Our Freedom Action Fund is pro-Hartzler, it is not affiliated with her campaign. The latest ad presents her as a strong alternative to Schmitt. However, Trump — the kingmaker in the GOP — emphatically announced that he would not be supporting Hartzler in the race, telling voters that they “can forget about” her. The Hartzler rejection, which came through a Truth Social post, serves as a tremendous blow to her campaign, as the 45th president’s nod can be a deal sealer for a candidate, especially in a competitive race like Missouri where she, Greitens, and Schmitt lead the pack in jockeying for the nomination.
Following Trump’s rejection of Hartzler, Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), who is also vying for the nomination but polling behind the three aforementioned candidates, ripped Schmitt. Long stated he was “hopeful 45 realizes #ShanghaiSchmitt endorsed” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2016 “and was in on the attempt to rig the delegates for Cruz for weeks after the #Missouri primary.”
I’m hopeful 45 realizes #ShanghaiSchmitt endorsed #TedCruz over him and was in on the attempt to rig the delegates for Cruz for weeks after the #Missouri primary. Not to mention scrubbing his files before he filed for Senate. Try and find any comments he made on Trump 2015 -2021.
— Billy Long (@auctnr1) July 9, 2022
While Trump bashed Hartzler, he has remained mum as to if he will endorse Greitens or Schmitt with the August 2 primary less than a week away, though he recently praised Greitens — a former Navy Seal officer who served on four deployments — while speaking with One America News, as the Missouri Independent noted.
“Eric is tough and he’s smart. A little controversial, but I’ve endorsed controversial people before. So we’ll see what happens,” said the 45th president.
Open Secrets reports that the Defend Our Freedom Action Fund has spent $233,109 for Hartzler and $163,189 against Schmitt thus far.
