The GOP primary race for governor gave us two pretty bad looks this weekend.
The first comes from Missouri state senator and gubernatorial candidate Bill Eigel, who was erroneously accused of participating in a book burning.
A video making the rounds on social media shows Eigel, along with state Senator Nick Schroer (R-St. Charles), setting a bonfire alight with a pair of flamethrowers. Eigel and Schroer called to mind the closing scene of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — only insofar as how lame their use of the weapons seemed by comparison.
Even though numerous people accused the two state senators of engaging in a book burning, Eigel has since clarified they were merely burning empty boxes that represented "leftist policies."
Nothing unusual about that — not in Missouri, at least, where it's basically pro forma for Republican candidates for statewide office to set the metaphorical lefty agenda aflame. When Eric Schmitt was running for U.S. Senate in 2022, he did the exact same stunt, only in a much more slickly produced campaign ad. Prior to that, Eric Greitens famously vaulted into the state's top executive job by taking a machine gun to "Obama's Democrat machine."
Though it is worth pointing out that maybe it doesn't bode super well for Eigel that when he was seen setting fire to a pile of cardboard, some percentage of the people he hopes to represent as governor automatically assumed he likes to party like it's Berlin 1939.
Not wanting to distance himself too much from the practice of book burning, Eigel also clarified on Twitter this morning, "But let’s be clear, you bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and I’ll burn those too — on the front lawn of the governor’s mansion."
In other gubernatorial race news, Jay Ashcroft was spotted at a Walk for Life event with an entirely different sort of bad look, rocking shorts, boat shoes and white tube socks smooshed down to his ankles.
Take a flamethrower to that wardrobe, Jay.
.@JayAshcroftMO - please call me. We can fix this. #mogov pic.twitter.com/3jSH2F5Y9G
— Gregg Keller (@RGreggKeller) September 16, 2023
As far as we know, the third candidate in the GOP primary for governor, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, got through the weekend without offending anyone's sensibilities, fashion or otherwise.
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