Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Like Trump, Jewish Governor Of Missouri Tries To Avoid Journalists

Missouri governor Eric Greitens loves communicating with his constituents via Facebook. But what he really doesn’t care for is good old fashioned media. And the press is starting to get antsy.

“This is the most reclusive, inaccessible and unengaged governor I’ve ever covered,” Phill Brooks, a reporter for the local CBS radio affiliate in St. Louis told the Kansas City Star which ran an article discussing Greitens’ policy of avoiding the press.

The new governor has held only one press conference since taking office. Greitens and his aides, according to the reports, frequently ignore questions from the press, and the governor’s communication office has recently installed a keypad lock, blocking reporters from walking in with inquires.

Instead, Greitens turns to Facebook, where he speaks directly to his 170,000 followers without pesky reporters imposing tough questions.

Why is Greitens avoiding the press?

It could have to do with repeated attempts by local media outlets to reveal the identity of donors to his inaugural events and to a non-profit organization recently set up in order to advance the governor’s agenda. Greitens refused to disclose the names of his donors.

Greitens, who is the first Jewish governor of Missouri, attended the AIPAC conference in Washington this week.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.