Facebook has removed an ad from Republican Senate candidate Eric Greitens that shows the GOP candidate armed with a shotgun to “hunt” political foes he dubbed “Republicans in Name Only” – also known as “RINOs”.
The ad faced swift condemnation online, and a company spokesman said: “We removed this video for violating our policies prohibiting violence and incitement.”
Twitter decided it violated its terms as well about abusive behavior.
“However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible”, it said above Mr Greitens tweet.
The former governor, who resigned in disgrace in 2018 amid allegations of sexual abuse and blackmail, released an ad featuring him with a rifle and touting his past as a Navy SEAL.
“The RINO feeds on corruption and is marked by the stripes of cowardice”, he says in the ad, before he proceeds to barge into a house with men in camouflage military gear and firearms.
“Join the MAGA crew, get a RINO hunting permit”, Mr Greitens says. “There’s no bagging limit, no tagging limit and it doesn’t expire until we save our country.”
Mr Greitens was elected governor in 2016 but resigned in 2018. An investigation found that that Mr Greitens allegedly taped a woman’s arms to an exercise machine, blindfolded her, pulled off her clothes and then snapped a photo of her as a means of blackmailing her.
Since then, he’s become a fixture in right-wing media, appearing regularly on Tucker Carlson. He is now running for the Republican nomination to replace the state’s retiring Senator Roy Blunt.
But since then, his ex-wife Sheena Greitens has alleged in a sworn affidavit that he threatened to kill himself if she did not show “specific public political support” for him amid the allegations that ended his governorship. She also alleged that one of their sons returned from a visit with Mr Greitens with a swollen face, bleeding gums and a loose tooth. Ms Greitens also said that he took her wallet, keys and phone to make her “unable to call for help or extricate myself and our children from our home.”
“I started sleeping in my children’s room simply to try to keep them safe”, she said.
Mr Greitens, for his part, has vehemently denied that he abused his children and said the allegations are part of a smear campaign led by Republican operative Karl Rove and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
