Greitens ad encouraging hunting political opponents still up despite Twitter rules violation

Missouri GOP Senate candidate Eric Greitens released a new political advertisement Monday morning that encourages citizens to “save America” by hunting RINOs.

In the ad, Greitens and several supposed military members invade a house with a battering ram and assault rifles. It is implied that the home belongs to a political opponent, and Greitens himself says that they are “RINO hunting.” 

RINO stands for “Republican in Name Only” and is used by far-right Republicans to insult others for not being conservative enough.

Less than four hours after the ad originally went up, Twitter flagged the video for violating the platform’s rules on abusive behavior, preventing new likes, comments and native retweets on the post. However, the post is still up for “public interest.” Facebook supposedly took the video down, and it is still up on Greitens’ official YouTube page.

The ad encourages using gun violence to deal with political differences as mass shootings continue to plague the United States. Within hours of the ad airing, it topped one million views and garnered harsh criticism for broadcasting a dangerous message.  

Lucas Kunce, one of the Democratic candidates in the same Senate race, responded to Greitens’ controversial ad on Twitter by saying Greitens “belongs in prison.” 

Eric Greitens doesn’t belong in U.S. Senate — he belongs in prison. I’m running because I think we need to send a warrior for working people to Washington, not another criminal.

Want to help us flip this seat? Chip in ⬇️ https://t.co/W8X6LTPGYe

— Lucas Kunce (@LucasKunceMO) June 20, 2022

“I’m running because I think we need to send a warrior for working people to Washington, not another criminal,” Kunce wrote.

Greitens is looking to stage a political comeback after a long history of controversies and scandal. He was previously the governor of the state until he resigned 15 months into his term following accusations of spousal abuse and sexual assault. Republican leaders at the time called for his resignation as he was facing possible impeachment for his behavior. 

Missouri’s primary elections will be held on August 2.