Billy Long says Josh Hawley is a liar. Hawley says Long just can’t take bad news.
Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley dismissed Rep. Billy Long’s claims that he lied about his plans to endorse Rep. Vicky Hartzler in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, saying it seemed like Long, who is also pursuing the nomination, didn’t take disappointment well.
“Some people take disappointing news better than others,” Hawley said.
Hawley waded into the competitive primary over the weekend amid concerns among party leadership that former Gov. Eric Greitens will win the nomination. Some Republicans fear that Greitens, who resigned the governorship in 2018 amid sexual abuse and campaign finance scandals, would jeopardize the GOP’s ability to retain the seat.
On Wednesday, Hawley said he made his decision to endorse Hartzler on Friday afternoon and then called right away to let her know.
“We were [in Missouri] for state Lincoln Days so I said ‘we’re here, let’s do it tomorrow morning,’” Hawley said. “So we did Saturday morning.”
Hawley said he alerted Long’s campaign about the endorsement beforehand.
Long says Hawley’s political consultant, Kyle Plokin, called one of his staffers at 10:03 a.m. and Hawley endorsed Hartzler at 10:04 a.m. He said he didn’t hear about the endorsement until 10:20, when a friend from Washington, D.C. sent him a tweet.
“Josh Hawley has my cell number, if he was honorable and wanted to give me a heads up he sure could have done it in person at the breakfast which ended shortly before the endorsement,” Long texted. “This is getting surreal. Very, very sad.”
Long remained critical of Hawley, saying “there is only one liar here.”
“I knew you could offer Vicky $50 to lie or $100 to tell the truth and she’d rather take the $50 every time but I didn’t know Josh does the same,” Long texted.
Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis attorney who rose to prominence after he was captured in a photo pointing a gun at Black Lives Matter protesters, said Hawley didn’t let his campaign know he was endorsing Hartzler either. He, too, called Hawley a liar.
Hawley’s comments come after Long criticized him for his decision to endorse Hartzler, claiming Hawley wasn’t transparent about his plans.
“When somebody looks you in the eye and lies to you, I don’t appreciate it,” Long told Pete Mundo Feb. 15 on KCMO Talk Radio.
Long told Mundo he asked Hawley twice if he intended to endorse Hartzler — first after Hartzler hired OnMessage (Hawley’s long-time campaign consultants) in August and again last week after a conversation with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led him to believe Hawley was close to endorsing.
Long said Hawley denied he was close to endorsing Hartzler both times.
Long also claimed that Hawley was working with McConnell to ice out other candidates because they’re concerned about the electability of Greitens.
Politico reported that a recent poll found that Greitens holds a narrow lead in a potential general election race against Democrat Lucas Kunce, who is significantly out-fundraising his opponents in the Democratic primary. The poll added to Republican concerns that a Greitens candidacy could put the state in jeopardy.
“The goal in DC, in the swamp, is to pick one person that can beat Eric Greitens,” Long told Mundo. “They’re all aligning to beat Eric Greitens who some people say is leading in the polls.”
Hawley declined to say whether he was talking with McConnell about the Missouri race. McConnell’s campaign office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Michael Hafner, Hartzler’s campaign manager, said Long appears “to be in a very emotional state and is saying a lot of crazy stuff.” He said there is no attempt in Washington, D.C. to align behind Hartzler to force others out of the race.
“Billy’s accusations that our campaign is masterminding any attempt to get him out of the Senate race are untrue and completely baseless.”
Long has said he will not drop out of the race. The candidate filing period for Missouri begins Feb. 22.
While Hawley has chosen his candidate, there is still the coveted potential endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who won Missouri by 15 percentage points in 2020.
Long has hired former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway as a campaign adviser and said he spoke with Trump after Hawley’s endorsement, but not about the race. Greitens has branded himself as the “America First” candidate and claims the “Make America Great Again” movement has coalesced around him. Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who was endorsed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Wednesday, has the backing of Pam Bondi, who runs Trump’s Super PAC.
Hawley said he has not asked Trump to endorse Hartzler, but that he talks to Trump about the campaign on a regular basis.
“I don’t ask the former president to do anything,” Hawley said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Billy Long says Josh Hawley is a liar. Hawley says Long just can’t take bad news.."