Three months later, Long is still seeking the former president’s support. Ahead of Congress’ Thanksgiving break, Long visited Trump again, this time in Mar-a-Lago. Trump told the imposing 66-year-old that he remains open to a Long endorsement but is in no rush.
“If he endorses in this race, I don’t care who he endorses. It’s over. … And that’s what I’m trying to impress upon him is that, you know, ‘you need to get involved in this race and put an end to it,’” Long said during a 40-minute interview. “’You’re looking at the guy that was with you from Day One.’ Never ever left. I mean, look at this tie.”
Long just so happened to be wearing a tie that then-candidate Trump signed five years ago, after the Missouri congressman spoke on his behalf in Nevada, when Trump appeared a surefire general-election loser. It’s just one more data point for Long’s sales pitch: He stands out, amid a sea of House Republicans racing to align themselves with Trump, as a believer before it was party orthodoxy.
Long’s Trump-OG approach is emblematic of the former president’s singular influence in Republican primaries, where entire campaigns are predicated on landing one man’s endorsement. It’s a new dynamic in American politics, where a man in Trump’s position usually keeps his head low and lets things in his party play out.
Built like a lineman, Long recalls in his thick “Missoura” twang lengthy anecdotes about everything from paying $37 for that tie in Nevada to handing home-printed $45 bills to Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. As a young boy, Long taught his dog to roll over and play dead upon being asked: “Would you rather be a Democrat or a dead dog?”
These days he’s barnstorming the state in what he calls the “Billy Bus,” festooned with a blown-up picture of Long in a cowboy hat. He once went full auctioneer on a disruptive activist during a committee hearing.
“There’s no pretense. He’s not one person in public, one person in private. The way he presents himself now is always who I have known him to be,” said Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) of Long.
Long is working closely with longtime Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, both because she’s “brilliant” and because she’s willing to go with Long whenever he wants to talk to Trump: “I would hope it would help me a little bit, having Kellyanne on my team.” He said Conway can’t get him the endorsement, but it’s one more way Long appeals to what’s often driven Trump’s thinking: loyalty.
“He was at the meetings when we were getting together in very small rooms at the Capitol Hill Club. He was there,” said another early Trump backer, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a former House member who jumped chambers in 2018.
And Missouri’s Republican Senate race is an absolute mad dash to win Trump’s favor. Long voted against certifying Trump’s loss on Jan. 6, but so did Rep….
Read More: The Missouri auctioneer bidding it all for Trump’s backing