On the latest edition of Politically Speaking, St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum and Jo Mannies welcome Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tony Monetti to the program.
Monetti is one of 20 people that have signed up to run for the seat that U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill currently holds. Ten Republicans, including Attorney General Josh Hawley, have filed thus far.
Monetti is a Warrensburg native and a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He served in the U.S. Air Force, where he flew the B-2 stealth bomber.
In addition to owning Monetti’s restaurant in Warrensburg, Monetti was an assistant dean of aviation at the University of Central Missouri. He stepped away from that job to run for the Senate.
Hawley is the leading money-raiser among the GOP candidates, with nearly $1.2 million of cash on hand. That haul likely grew dramatically last week when President Donald Trump attended a fundraiser for Hawley in St. Louis County. Only Monetti and Austin Petersen have raised more than $200,000 thus far — though both have less than $40,000 in the bank.
Here’s what Monetti had to say during the show:
- He thinks the U.S. Senate needs to have more people that have experienced military combat. He added that people who have served in the military have a deeper understanding about defense issues.
- If he had been in the Senate in the early 2000s, Monetti said he would have voted against the Iraq War. He went on to say that “we’ve done a terrible job of doing what we think is the right thing. And they don’t have the guts to stand up and say enough.”
- Monetti supports legislation that President Donald Trump signed into law that cuts the nation’s income and corporate taxes. In fact, Monetti said he would have cut taxes even deeper.
- Even though Hawley has a sizable monetary, organizational and endorsement advantage, Monetti believes he can break through to Republican primary voters. “When I was at the Air Force Academy, both of my roommates quit. The upperclassmen told me, ‘You need to quit. You don’t have what it takes,’” he said. “But I looked them in the eyes, and I laughed and said, ‘No, sir, I’m going to make it.’”
Follow Jason Rosenbaum on Twitter: @jrosenbaum
Follow Jo Mannies on Twitter: @jmannies
Follow Tony Monetti on Twitter: @Monetti4Senate
Music: “I1100” by Thursday
