Missouri gubernatorial hopeful Bill Eigel celebrates Trump's endorsement

Republican Missouri gubernatorial Bill Eigel on Monday celebrated an endorsement from former President Donald Trump over the weekend, even after the former president endorsed his competitors as well.

Trump endorsed all three Republicans running for the nomination on Saturday, claiming that Missouri was filled with too many "great people" to just endorse one of them.

Eigel said he was "excited" about Trump's endorsement, because he wants to work with the former president to deport thousands of illegal immigrants. 

"I always knew we were going to put a compelling case in front of the President to get his endorsement," Eigel said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. " I'm the only candidate that's talking about working with Donald Trump to deport the illegals that are in our country right now, after Joe Biden opened up the border."

Eigel said that he has stood with the former president on his own plan to close the border and deport the illegal migrants, even as his opponents called the plan "foolish" and "impractical." 

"We're going to deport the illegals. And I think [Trump] recognized that and we got his endorsement over the weekend. So we're very excited," he added.

The state senator said he was also excited about an endorsement from Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee, and Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz. 

"Mike Lee has built a brand and a reputation of being a conservative champion. So for him to recognize the efforts that I've got here in the state of Missouri, we're excited," Eigel said. "Congressman Matt Gaetz, just endorsed me a couple of days ago. This is a statewide, state-level race, but it's getting national attention because there are a lot of folks coming to the realization that we need more governors in state capitals pushing the conservative agenda in concert with what we're seeing our conservative champions push in D.C."

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe are also running for the nomination. Trump praised all three as "MAGA and America First" champions, that have been with him from the beginning. 

Ashcroft is currently leading in the state primary, according to the nonpartisan pollster Project FiveThirtyEight. The state primaries will take place next week, on Tuesday Aug. 6. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.