You may have heard there’s a “Debate About Debates” going on in Missouri.

But yesterday, after Josh Hawley reserved $1M in TV ads to air false attacks against me, the truth behind this “debate” was exposed, as was the total brokenness of our politics. Here's how it happened 🧵👇 First, where things stand…

I believe ALL Missourians should get to hear from us. So because Hawley immediately accepted invitations for media-moderated and hosted TV debates in 2018, I thought—despite our disagreements—Josh and I would at least agree on this. I was wrong. ⬇️

Shadowy groups spending billions. Back scratching. And an open conspiracy to ban abortion medication nationwide. It all hinges on a business arrangement that shouldn’t even be legal.

Here’s how, thanks to Josh Hawley, they might get away with it. For now. [THREAD] First, meet the judge. A fellow named Matthew Kacsmaryk gets tapped to be a federal judge, but his confirmation stalls out and faces bipartisan opposition due to his obsession with using the courts to control people’s lives.

The most absurd thing about a giant Japanese corporation (Nippon Steel) trying to buy U.S. Steel is that our tax dollars helped make it happen. Let me explain: 🧵 Each year, we spend billions of dollars arming and defending Japan. The Japanese government uses much of those defense savings to heavily subsidize Japanese corporations in strategic industries.

From overturning Roe to banning abortion drugs, Josh Hawley turned his mission to criminalize abortion nationwide into a family business. And he's abused his power to do it.

Let me explain: 🧵

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1734946039356899636

2017: Matt Kacsmaryk is nominated to be a federal judge for the north TX district court.

His confirmation stalls for years. We even learned he lied to hide just how bizarre his obsession with controlling people's bodies really is.

I was a Marine stationed at the Pentagon during the 2018-2019 shutdown. A lot of us were already working 10+ hours a day and not seeing our families enough or sometimes at all — and then, just as the holidays were coming up, we had to cover for furloughed civilian employees… 🧵 Service members at military facilities across the country had to deal with the same thing. The Coast Guard couldn't even fund two paychecks. But this was more than just needlessly letting politics punish military families.

Josh Hawley is not a serious person.

He thinks that you, me, and every other normal person in this country will buy bullshit like this. Let me break it down:

https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1664325224815312921

The most obvious problem with Hawley’s “reasoning” for his vote: Failing to raise the debt ceiling would make the trade deficit WORSE.

It'd crash our economy, put essential services for seniors and vets in jeopardy, and interrupt critical investments in American manufacturing.

6 years ago, a plan was already in motion to corrupt our courts and force through a nationwide ban on the most commonly used abortion pill — in all 50 states, any and all circumstances, without exception.

And Josh Hawley thinks you’ll let him get away with it.

Let me explain: 2017: Matt Kacsmaryk is nominated to be a federal judge for the north TX district court.

His confirmation stalls for years. And just this week, we learned he even lied to hide just how bizarre his obsession with controlling people's bodies really is. dallasnews.com/news/politics/…

Hawley comes from a banking family. His dad's a bank president! He knows SVB didn't fail because of "woke climate change solutions" or whatever the hell that means.

But Josh would rather lie and keep us distracted while his rich friends keep on robbing us. Let me explain:🧵 I'm not from a banking family like Hawley, but I do know a bit about them.

Between deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, where I helped protect service members from illegal foreclosures and bank scams after the banks crashed our economy in 2008.

I'm not interested in co-parenting with Josh Hawley and his creepy Big Brother bullshit.

His plan to “protect kids online” would push teenage minors to surrender sensitive personal documents + photo IDs to giant social media companies.

Don't believe me? Read the bill text: 🧵 Josh Hawley is so obsessed with controlling our lives, he’d go as far as requiring every American who makes a social media account to trust Facebook, Snapchat, and China-owned TikTok with copies of some of the same documents you'd need to replace a social security card.

Josh Hawley doesn’t know the Missouri I know.

Let me show you: When Joshua's banker daddy was sending him to a fancy prep school miles from his hometown, my family and I were relying on our neighbors to survive bankruptcy and medical bills in mid-Missouri — in a community where people took care of each other.

Some folks have asked me why we launched this campaign to replace Josh Hawley in the U.S. Senate so early before the election.

I think I owe you all an explanation. So here's a quick thread about why... I'll start out by telling you this: From the moment we joined this race, Josh Hawley and his corporate allies have been on the attack online and in the press.

Hawley himself messaged his donors to say I'd “love nothing more than to take back Missouri. We CAN'T let that happen.”

Since I launched my campaign to replace Josh Hawley in the Senate, thousands have joined our grassroots movement. But that's not all... @HawleyMO and his corporate DC allies have also gone on the attack.

So let me tell you a bit about me — and why Joshua is so afraid of me: I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Jeff City, right in the middle of Missouri. Like most Americans today, my family lived paycheck-to-paycheck — so when my little sister was born with a heart condition, the medical bills bankrupted us.

But we weren’t alone...

When elephants fight the grass suffers. The proverb typically matters to military families when politicians start wars. But now it applies because our feckless politicians let corporations get so big that they trample us, too. The latest 👇military.com/daily-news/202… One of three middleman companies called PBMs that control nearly all of our country’s prescriptions runs the TriCare military prescription program. And they are in a battle with the Kroger grocery/pharmacy. drugchannels.net/2021/04/the-to…

Stationed in Iraq, I lived near an open-air burn pit. Smoke filled the air all the time. And I had to run through it. To the Republicans who decided to screw veterans like me today...

Fuck you. Every last one of you. These same Republican politicians voted time after time to keep us fighting their pointless overseas wars, wasting trillions of dollars while defense contractors got rich.

Now when it comes time to take care of those of us who served, we're suddenly broke. It's just criminal.

Our latest TV ad hits hard. And here’s why: We cannot afford to let another Joe Manchin BUY their way into a Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, just to lose by double-digits in November.

Watch it, then let me tell you what’s happening in Missouri… 2 weeks ago, @BuschValentine's team was sharing a poll that gave her a double-digit lead after she skipped debates and dumped millions into TV ads. But then, we started running our ads—funded by our people-powered movement. And we cut that lead down to 3%.

https://twitter.com/KevinBarryTV/status/1551912226054983682

THIS. IS. A. BIG. DEAL.

"The contest among the top Democratic Party primary contenders for U.S. Senate is really no contest at all. Voters heading to the polls next Tuesday should enthusiastically support attorney and Marine veteran Lucas Kunce."
stltoday.com/opinion/editor… "The top two contenders on the Republican side are disgraced former Gov. Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt... Kunce can match them head-to-head and toe-to-toe in pretty much any subject."
stltoday.com/opinion/editor…

It's simple: Our politicians have allowed 3 giant multinational corporations to set the price for insulin based on how many deaths and amputations the market will bear until people start rioting. nbcnews.com/health/health-… Virtually every member of Congress campaigns on cutting the costs of insulin and other prescriptions drugs. But it hasn't mattered which party holds power — nothing EVER gets done about it. Wonder why?

Because if our politicians aren't bought off...

My name is Lucas Kunce. I’m a 13-year Marine vet and the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination in Missouri’s Senate race. Our record-breaking grassroots movement has the lead heading into the August 2nd primary — but we could still lose.

Let me explain why… In our broken system, wealthy elites can dump millions into any race without restriction. And that’s happening in Missouri.

New FEC reports show our billionaire heiress opponent, Trudy @BuschValentine, has dumped in $4M to try and buy the nomination. Our primary is in 11 days.

Just 4 companies make nearly all baby formula that Americans buy. So what happens when the supply chain strains, government fails to act, and 1 of the companies gets 2 babies killed — all at once?

50% of baby formula in Missouri is out of stock.

This is corporate manslaughter. Here's my plan:

1. Break up the baby formula cartel.
2. Prosecute everyone at Abbott who helped hide the unsanitary plant conditions from FDA.
3. Kick FDA in the ass. It's an agency captured by giant corporations it's supposed to make sure don't kill us. Make them do their job.

As a Marine officer at the Pentagon, I led arms control negotiations with NATO and Russia. Here’s the truth no one in DC is telling you about Ukraine: Our “allies” are aiding the enemy.

It's a Russian invasion funded by Europe’s richest countries.

Let me explain: (1/) I've spent my life defending America. After deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan, I was on the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. I led strategy on Russian conventional arms control negotiations and oversaw military compliance for our obligations in Europe. I know what I’m talking about. (2/)

For 20 years, politicians, elites and military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan. I know because I was there.

Instead of spending $6.4 trillion to “nation build” in the Middle East, we should start nation building here. Read my @KCStar op-ed on this: kansascity.com/opinion/reader… Criminal politicians and corrupt corporations dominate our politics. While they've kept us in these pointless wars, they've been stripping our communities for parts. We need to fundamentally change who has power in our country. That's why I'm running for U.S. Senate. #MOSen