take a listen. what makes you so clear that it is you and not other erics in this race. yes, ma am. i think this is kraerlly clear because he was very clear. he wants a maga champion. everybody here knows i ve been behind president trump. stood behind him on election integrity. i ve stood up for our police officers and veterans and when president trump wants a fighter for our veterans it was clear he s talking about me. reporter: so, there you have it. of course, eric gietensing that he is the ones who thinks that he has this endorsement. but at this hour, former president trump has not made it clear. we shoud note that he released a lot of endorsements yesterday. they all had first and last names which is eric all caps. as you noted, this is an intentional part by the former president trump. and there was a woman,
i had a conversation with the president, and i thanked him for his endorsement. is eric schmidt lying when he says he was endorsed? i think the entire campaign, one of the differences between me and other candidates is the other candidates use smears. i think it s incredibly clear i m the maga champion in this race. i thought you asked the big question, the destiny s child question, say my name, why not just say my full name. tell us about that high jinx and what else is important and on the ballot out there today. well, ari, if you or the rapper eminem was covering this race, you would be asking, will the real eric please stand up? that s what is on voters minds three hours before polls close in missouri. both erics are claiming they re the candidate that president trump endorsed. president trump has not provided clarity. we re toll at msnbc news this is intentional on his part. he wants to wield power and
said i m going to endorse eric, all caps, but no last name. that has led to even more confusion in this race. so you have eric schmidt who is the missouri attorney general. he is someone seen as somewhat of a moderate even though he was trying to sue to stop mask mandates to go into effect in the height of covid. he s attacked right to try and get the support of former president trump. and then you have eric greitens. he is facing claims of sexual abuse, of domestic abuse. both of those erics have put out statements saying they were the one endorsed by former president trump. they were on twitter saying, they ve said it in person. it s really, really confusing here. we re told former president trump is doing this intentionally. he wanted to make this vague so whenever eric wins is the eric he would be supporting. both erics here in some ways echoing the language of former
his late endorsement. he sent an email last night saying he was endorsing eric ahead of today s primary election. the problem, or frankly the plan, two of the three serious candidates in the race are named eric. former missouri governor eric greitens around current missouri attorney general eric schmitt and both erics are saying the former president is supporting them. each posted statements online thanking trump for his endorsement. a source close to the former president told nbc news that leaving off the last name of eric, he was endorsing was intentional, and a trump spokesman last night said indeed they trusted missouri voters to pick the right one. okay. we have officially seen everything. let s move to michigan now. former conservative commentator and actress tudor dixon is hoping for a win today in the state s republican primary for governor after gaining in the polls of late, and winning a last-minute endorsement from
michigan, in places like arizona it s not just whether or not voters will back somebody endorsed by donald trump. it s whether voters will back candidates who have bought into trump s big lie, the most extreme versions of his election denial, and that could have long-term consequences for politics in two crucial swing states. i want to bring in yamiche alcindor out in missouri for us. talk about donald trump s endorsement of eric, no last name. what is he trying to do here? well, alicia, this is just a confusing baffling race here. it s the missouri senate republican primary. you have a crowded field of candidates who are running to try to replace roy blunt who s retiring from the senate as a republican. former president trump had said he was going to endorse some time yesterday one of the candidates in that race. there were two erics and a vicky. he put out this statement that