JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With the 2022 midterm elections less than two weeks away, Missourians want a fighter to represent them in the U.S. Senate, “not another tax-and-spend liberal.”

That’s according to Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, who is running against Anheuser-Busch heiress Trudy Busch Valentine to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt. 

“We’ve got to be energy dominant again, we have to secure our border, we have to get inflation under control, and you need a fighter to do that – not an out-of-touch, elitist heiress,” Schmitt told The Heartlander. “Right now, what we’re seeing is inflation and the economy is top-of-mind for voters. Make no mistake: the Democrats and their radical economic policies have directly caused these skyrocketing inflation numbers. Missouri families deserve better.”

Schmitt has routinely criticized the Biden administration and Democrats for the floundering economy and skyrocketing inflation, saying their “reckless spending” is what caused the financial struggle many families are dealing with. 

“These issues that are facing Missouri families, like the 13% inflation since Joe Biden’s been in office, fuel costs rising – that’s what is going to hit people’s pocketbooks,” he said. “Every time they go to the grocery store, that ‘sticker shock’ that families feel is real. 

“My liberal opponent admits she wants to raise taxes and has no plan to lower the cost of food, rent, utilities. She’s a limousine liberal and completely immune to inflation, so it’s no surprise that she’s not talking about it,” the AG said, referencing Busch Valentine’s family fortune. 

“Affordability” is conspicuously near the bottom of issues listed on Busch Valentine’s campaign website, appearing as the 11th out of 16 priorities listed. What’s more, a quick search of her official Twitter account shows she has only mentioned inflation four times since launching her campaign in March.

Moreover, in three out of her four tweets mentioning inflation, Busch Valentine argues it isn’t inflation itself that is the issue, but rather “wages aren’t keeping up with inflation.” The fourth tweet mentioning inflation touts the Inflation Reduction Act, which has already taken immense pushback for raising taxes and not yet showing any signs of improving costs for Americans. 

“Incredible news,” Busch Valentine wrote. “The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for prescription drugs and health care, take on climate change, and help families make ends meet.”

Along with most Republicans, Schmitt has continually bashed the Inflation Redution Act and attributes 40-year-high inflation to the act’s considerable price tag. 

“The truth is, inflation is not a natural disaster like a hurricane or tornado. There’s a formula for it,” Schmitt said. “And it turns out, when you spend trillions and trillions of dollars and declare war on American energy, prices go up on everything. And that’s what we’re seeing right now. So Day 1, we’ve got to stop the reckless spending.”

Another issue Schmitt believes is top-of-mind for Missourians is the Biden administration’s “soft” approach on the historic influx of illegal immigrants and drugs through the southern border, saying he’s been to the border twice and “the cartels are running the show.”

“While American families and Missourians are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet, the cartels are richer than ever through human trafficking, drug smuggling and the fentanyl they’re dumping into our communities.”  

Schmitt’s concern over fentanyl making it deep into U.S. communities is confirmed by fentanyl overdoses, which are now the leading cause of death for American adults ages 18 to 45, according to the CDC. 

The attorney general noted his taking the Biden administration to court several times over its handling of illegal immigration, and argued Biden’s policies are the reason the U.S. is seeing unprecedented amounts of drugs smuggled into the country.

“My opponent has no plan to do anything about [illegal immigration]. Meanwhile, I’ve been fighting those fights,” he said. “We’ve got to get back to where we were with the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, keeping Title 42 in place and finishing the wall to have a secure border.

“No country on Earth would tolerate the border that we have right now. It’s a disaster, and again, this is a direct result of Joe Biden’s administration – and my opponent has signed onto all of that.” 

What’s making the record amount of drugs and illegal immigrants flowing into the country even worse, Schmitt argues, is insufficient support for law enforcement, as well as Democrats such as Busch Valentine supporting “soft-on-crime” policies.

“We’re seeing unprecedented crime in many communities, and we see Democrats pushing these disastrous soft-on-crime policies that only embolden criminals. My opponent, the heiress Valentine, has said on record that she’s going to follow the direction of far-left politicians like Tishaura Jones; she’s in line with Cori Bush and Quinton Lucas on this ‘defund the police’ narrative. It’s a disaster for families.”

Schmitt argues Busch Valentine and Rep. Bush’s defund-the-police narrative is hypocritical and only works for them because they’re “immune” to violent crime, with Busch Valentine living in a gated community and Rep. Bush dropping almost $500,000 of taxpayer dollars for private security.

“Everybody should be able to live their lives without worrying about violent crime, and defunding the police is exactly the wrong answer. But that’s [Busch Valentine’s] answer,” Schmitt said. “Meanwhile, as attorney general, I’ve been prosecuting violent crime, taking on the backlog of sexual assault kits, we started a cold case unit, I’ve prosecuted a murder case myself in the city of St. Louis. And that’s why I’ve got the support of the Fraternal Order of Police and first responders.”

Along with the endorsement from Missouri’s Fraternal Order of Police, Schmitt has received the support of the Missouri State Council of Firefighters, and his campaign includes a Law Enforcement Officials for Schmitt coalition. He also has launched a Safer Streets Initiative as attorney general that led to over 500 charges being filed in its first two years. 

When asked why he has garnered first responders’ support over Busch Valentine, he replies, “because they know I’ll have their back. And I don’t just talk about it, I’ve done it.”

Last year, Schmitt filed an amicus brief opposing Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and his City Council majority’s attempt to defund KCPD by over $42 million. The mayor and city council’s ploy was eventually deemed illegal by a Jackson County judge. 

“Calls to Defund the Police are no longer just rhetoric, they have made their way into city budgets,” Schmitt tweeted at the time. “Today we filed a brief to stop this deadly and destructive effort in Kansas City. Now more than ever we need to #BackTheBlue.”

As Missourians weigh which candidate they’ll be supporting on Nov. 8, Schmitt argues there couldn’t be a starker contrast between him and Busch Valentine, and said he believes the choice is clear for those who are troubled by the direction the country is going. 

“She comes from billions, I come from Bridgeton,” Schmitt said. “She’s an Anheuser-Busch heiress, my dad worked at Anheuser-Busch seven days a week doing the midnight shift. In college, I gave tours and took out the trash at the estate that she grew up on. 

“So I think it’s a contrast in backgrounds, which colors who we’re fighting for. She’s fighting for the wealthy elites, and I’m fighting for working families. In the Senate, I’ll stand up to Joe Biden’s obsession with this reckless spending and work to make American energy independent again.”