Missouri congressman, weighing Senate run, meets with Trump in New York
As he flirts with a U.S. Senate run, Missouri Republican Rep. Jason Smith Monday met with former President Donald Trump in New York.
A GOP source familiar with meeting sent The Star a photo of the southeastern Missouri congressman outside Trump Tower, the Manhattan high-rise which served as Trump’s residence and business headquarters before his election as president in 2016.
The source said meeting covered the Missouri Senate race and opposition to President Joe Biden’s agenda.
Josh Siegel, Smith’s campaign manager, confirmed that the meeting took place Monday.
Siegel offered few details about the content of Smith’s conversation with Trump, but he said that the congressman continues to weigh entering the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Roy Blunt.
Smith’s meeting with Trump comes just weeks after the congressman held a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where the former president now resides.
Months after leaving office, Trump still refuses to accept his electoral loss to Biden and has continued to promote baseless conspiracy theories.
Smith, who represents the most Republican-leaning district in the state, was one of five House Republicans from Missouri to vote to overturn the election in January and would not explicitly affirm the legitimacy of Biden’s election when asked by The Star earlier this month.
His meeting with the former president comes roughly a week after St. Louis attorney Mark McCloskey, known for brandishing a firearm at protesters last year, entered the race on a Trump-aligned platform.
Other Republican candidates in the race, former Gov. Eric Greitens and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, have also made overt appeals for Trump’s support in the primary.
This story was originally published May 24, 2021 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Missouri congressman, weighing Senate run, meets with Trump in New York."
