LOUIS, Mo. – A fire-up Lt. Col. Tony Monetti, 54, delivered a message to Attorney General Josh Hawley on the Marc Cox radio show May 2 in St. Louis – “Focus on your job.”

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Monetti faces Hawley in the Republican Primary for the U.S. Senate seat Aug. 7.

“I’m first going to take out young Josh and then I will defeat chameleon Claire, and then I’m going to take some of these RINOs out so we can help our president make America great again,” Monetti said.

Hawley is supposed to live in Jefferson City, but tried to reinterpret the Constitution so he could continue to live in Columbia. Facing criticism, Hawley said he would rent a place in Jefferson City, Monetti said.

“He’s got a job to do as attorney general. Focus on your job and let guys like me lead the party,” he said.

Hawley ran two years ago on a pledge not to be a ladder climber, but the “paint had not dried” on Hawley’s new office before he announced his run for the Senate, Monetti told Cox.

“He needs to stay our attorney general; he’s a good man, he’s Christian and he’s pro-life, like me. He needs to step down, get out of the way,” Monetti said.

Monetti said Gov. Eric Greitens should be allowed his day in court this month without being pushed to resign Hawley. If guilty, then Greitens must face justice, Monetti said, but the trial comes first.

Cox said sometimes “the long knives come out” for outsiders. Monetti said he has been shot at as a combat veteran and does not fear political dirty tricks.

“I’m ready to fight, and America is worth fighting for,” Monetti said.

The establishment does not want a true outsider, but Monetti said he plans to show the elite that grassroots Republicans are the real power in Missouri’s Republican Party.

Many Republicans doubt Hawley’s seriousness as a candidate because he called for infringing on the Second Amendment, called for Greitens to resign and disappeared from the campaign trail, Monetti said.

Hawley has found time to squeeze in one Lincoln Day event to support fellow Republicans, but he made time to attend a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser for himself. He also found time to go to a fitness club in Columbia during public office hours in Jefferson City, The Riverfront Times of St. Louis reported April 25 under the headline, “Josh Hawley works out in Columbia while Jefferson City burns.”

In his Make American Great Again monster pickup truck, Monetti has attended 40 Republican Party Lincoln Days and other events in dozens of cities and counties, from Kansas City to St. Louis, from Unionville on the Iowa border to Kennett on the Arkansas border, and many points between. Lincoln Days are fundraisers that support Republicans running for county and other area offices.

Monetti also states Congress should be more involved in decisions to use the military; a wall is needed to stop illegal aliens; and he supports religious freedom under the First Amendment, gun rights under the Second Amendment, lower taxes and fewer business regulations, lower health care costs, and a strong military to safeguard democracy.

Based on experience as a decorated combat veteran, university aviation director, businessman, civic leader and faith book author, Monetti discusses topics that include what makes his military and public service achievements important as indicators of character, and what he plans to accomplish in the Senate.