About
Billy Long (R-Mo.) has served Missouri’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011. He gave up his House seat to run for the Senate in 2022, pushing the stolen election narrative hard. But in August, he lost the crowded GOP primary to the state’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
Prior to being elected to Congress, Long had never held public office. He previously worked as an auctioneer and a real estate agent, and also co-hosted a morning radio show.
In 2018, Long was widely criticized for downplaying the sexual assault allegation against Justice Bret Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. He shared a black-and-white image on Twitter of a young boy kissing a smiling young girl at the top of a playground slide, with the caption: “Exhibit A. Democrat evidence against Brett Kavanaugh 1963.”
After the 2020 presidential election, Long adhered to the GOP playbook by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the process. He objected to certifying Biden’s Electoral College win and voted against both impeaching Trump for inciting the mob and establishing a special House committee to investigate the insurrection, among other measures.
January 6, 2021
- Just hours after pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol, Long and 146 other congressional Republicans refused to certify Biden’s win of the 2020 presidential election.
- Long voted against impeaching Trump for his role in instigating the attack on Congress and the Capitol, and for fanning the flames once the riot broke out.
- Long voted against establishing a House committee to investigate what led to the violent assault on the Capitol and disruption of the congressional procedure underway that day. He claimed that the FBI was better equipped than Congress to handle the investigation.
The Big Lie
- On Dec. 10, 2020, Long signed an amicus brief in a lawsuit filed by the state of Texas urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the results of the presidential election in four swing states: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
- In a statement explaining why he objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results, Long wrote: “For every instance of Georgia failing to follow its own state law in verifying signatures, of Pennsylvania accepting mail ballots after the legal deadline set by its state legislature, or folks from outside Nevada casting a ballot in that state—the value of every Missourians’ vote is diminished.”
- When YouTube removed a Senate campaign ad from Long claiming that the 2020 election was rigged, he responded by calling the company “unAmerican” and criticizing it for “canceling” him.