Eric Greitens’ Maverick Style Has Left Him Few Allies In Sex Scandal
Eric Greitens Image by Getty
By Ari Feldman January 15, 2018
Missouri Governor Eric Greitens campaigned with a style similar to President Donald Trump: he promised not to play insider politics and focus on saving Missouri as much money as possible.
But as soon as he came into the office in January 2017, Greitens began penny-pinching and mounting political attacks on rivals in a way that distanced himself from other legislators. Now, Greitens is mired in a sex scandal — and his combative style has left him few allies, the New York Times reported.
Greitens became mired in scandal last week after he admitted to having an affair in 2015. Greitens made the announcement after a recording emerged of his former mistress saying that he took a picture of her blindfolded and half-naked as a form of blackmail. Greitens has denied threatening to release the photo if she ever disclosed their relationship.
“When you don’t foster relationships with the legislators that you’re serving with and when you don’t foster relationships with the press who cover the state capital on a daily basis, that all can be just fine,” said John Hancock, one-time chairman of the Missouri Republican Party. “But when you then face a crisis, there’s no cavalry running to your defense.”
Greitens has been making a flurry of calls to donors and political leaders in Missouri, hoping to find new allies. Many are still weary of Greitens after his smug campaign style and personal insults lobbed at political rivals.
Democrats in Missouri have called for the governor’s resignation. His lawyer said he has no such plans.
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
