October 8, 2024

After new reporting highlighted Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe’s latest about-face: denying the results of the 2020 election, the Missouri Democratic Party issued the following statement:

“Mike Kehoe was decisive after he took office in January 2021, but caved to dangerous extremists in the face of a tough primary challenge and appeared to deny the 2020 election results. Now that he is in a tough general election, he won’t stand by or clarify either of his statements,” said Executive Director Matthew Patterson.

“This is just another example of a two-faced Mike Kehoe. When he was overriding Governor Nixon and democrats in the legislature were proposing rules to fix this problem, he supported Chinese-owned farmland. But now that he’s running for governor, he’s against it. This type of behavior is entirely unacceptable and Missouri deserves better.” 

Background:

Kansas City Star: Mike Kehoe Won’t Admit Biden Won The 2020 Election. He Used To Say ‘Accept The Results’

“Five days after supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, spurred by false allegations of a stolen election, Missouri Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe made clear the fight over the election was over. “The time now is for people to accept the results and move forward,” Kehoe told The Star minutes after he took the oath of office in Jefferson City on Jan. 11. “And whether you like who the president is or not, he is the leader of our free world and we need to get behind that person and make sure that we as a country continue to survive.”

"Nearly four years later, Kehoe has sharply changed his tone. As the Republican campaigns for governor ahead of the Nov. 5 election, his position on whether President Joe Biden was the legitimate winner of the 2020 election sounds a lot different today than the conciliatory note he struck after the Capitol riot. Kehoe’s campaign told CNN this summer that Biden has “no business being president.” In a statement, the campaign said Biden “is illegitimate in the eyes of the voters, of his party, and of the world. He should have never stepped foot in the Oval Office, and in November, we are going to right that wrong by overwhelmingly reelecting Donald Trump'.”

Kehoe Cast Deciding Votes To Lift The Ban On Selling Missouri Farmland To Foreign Entities At Least Four Times, Including To Override Governor Nixon’s Veto On September 11, 2013. [Missouri State Senate Journal, 2013 Veto Override, Passed 23-10, 9/11/2013; Missouri Times, 9/11/2013; Missouri State Senate Journal, Conference Committee Adoption, Passed 33-0, 5/16/2013; Missouri State Senate Journal, Third Read & Passage, Passed 32-1, 5/16/2013;  Missouri State Senate Journal, Third Read & Passage, Passed 23-7, 2/18/2013]

• American Dream PAC: “China is the Enemy” (VIDEO)
• Missouri Independent: Kehoe Campaign For Missouri Governor Riding On Bus Owned By Lobbyist For Chinese Pork Producer 
• Kansas City Star: Mo Governor’s Race Erupts Over Foreign-Owned Farmland After New Restrictions Fail To Pass

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Media Contact: 

Chelsea Rodriguez, Communications Director

press@missouridems.org