Josh Hawley rebuked by fellow Republicans and home-state newspapers — and even his political mentor
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Josh Hawley rebuked by fellow Republicans and home-state newspapers — and even his political mentor© Win McNamee/Getty Images ASSOCIATED PRESS
O'FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A Republican colleague rebuked him on the Senate floor. A home-state newspaper editorial board declared he has "blood on his hands." But for Josh Hawley, the Missouri senator who staged an Electoral College challenge that became the focus of a violent siege of the Capitol, the words of his political mentor were the most personal.
"Supporting Josh Hawley … was the worst decision I've ever made in my life," former Missouri Sen. John Danforth told the Associated Press on Thursday. "He has consciously appealed to the worst. He has attempted to drive us apart and he has undermined public belief in our democracy. And that's great damage."
Aside from President Donald Trump, who had riled up supporters with a lengthy speech at the Ellipse just before they stormed the Capitol — Trump had said he would be there with them — no politician has been more publicly blamed for Wednesday's unprecedented assault on American democracy than Hawley. The 41-year-old first-term senator, a second-tier player through much of the Trump era, has rapidly emerged as a strident Trump ally, and may be among the most tarnished by the events of Jan. 6 for years to come.
"There will be political fallout for his actions," said Alice Stewart, a Republican strategist and former adviser to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign. "The initial decision to oppose the will of the people was downright wrong. The post-insurrection calculation to continue the charade is fallacious and dangerous."
Hawley, who defeated Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2018, was once celebrated by the Republican establishment as a rising star. Born in Arkansas and raised in the Kansas City area, the Stanford- and Yale-educated lawyer was young, ambitious and savvy. It surprised some when he was first to announce he would endorse false claims of fraud and take up Trump's cause, forcing House and Senate votes that would inevitably fail and in no way alter the election's outcome.
Support of the challenge to the electoral vote count was seen as keeping in good stead with Trump's supporters, who have come to dominate the Republican base.
The move instantly raised his national profile. Soon Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, leading about 10 other senators, joined Hawley in the effort — notably not winning over Sens. Ben Sasse of Nebraska or Tom Cotton of Arkansas, two other young Republicans viewed as harboring presidential ambitions.
See: Sasse says Trump and fellow Senate Republican Hawley are engaging in 'dangerous ploy' in seeking to obstruct certification of Biden win
Plus:Tom Cotton surprises political observers by opposing Hawley and Cruz efforts in Senate to reject Electoral College results
As he walked into the Capitol on Wednesday, Hawley cheered on pro-Trump protesters gathering outside the building with a thumbs up and fist pump.
But Hawley's scheme fell apart almost before it got going. As the Senate began debate after Cruz and Rep. Paul Gosar objected to Arizona's electoral result, pro-Trump mobs barreled into the Capitol and interrupted proceedings. By the time the Senate reconvened, after one woman was shot and killed by police and parts of the Capitol ransacked, support in the Senate for challenging the results had all but evaporated.
Dozens of courts, state elections officials and even Trump's former attorney general have said there was no evidence of widespread election fraud. Still, Hawley asked his Senate colleagues "to address the concerns of so many millions of Americans" by investigating the 2020 vote.
See:William Barr says Trump betrayed his office with his conduct Wednesday
Hawley faced instant rebuke from his own party. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah blasted those who objected to finalizing President-elect Joe Biden's election.
Accusing Trump of inciting insurrection, and with Hawley seated nearby, Romney said "those who choose to continue to support his dangerous gambit by objecting to the results of a legitimate democratic election will forever be seen as being complicit in an unprecedented attack against our democracy."
"That will be their legacy," he added.
In the deeply divided GOP, that may not be the prevailing view. In Missouri, a state Trump won by almost 16 percentage points, some argued Hawley was blameless.
"For people to blame Sen. Hawley for the people that came up to the Capitol to break the windows — and came wearing helmets and trying to break in — that's absurd," said Republican state Rep. Justin Hill, who skipped his own inaugural ceremony Wednesday to attend Trump's rally in Washington.
Hill, who was the lead sponsor of a Missouri House resolution last month asking Congress to reject some states' Electoral College votes, said Hawley was "defending the Constitution."
Yet GOP state Sen. Shamed Dogan of Ballwin in suburban St. Louis, like Danforth, said late Wednesday he regretted supporting Hawley.
"I have never regretted a vote as much and as quickly as my vote for @HawleyMO in 2018," he tweeted. "His refusal to accept the legitimacy of Joe Biden's election, even after today's violence, is an embarrassment."
The pile-on continued. The student bar association at the University of Missouri law school, where Hawley taught, issued a statement calling for his resignation from the Senate.
The Kansas City Star listed Hawley as second only to Trump as responsible for the attack on the Capitol, and noted Hawley had issued a political fundraising solicitation as the siege was underway.
"But this is not about me! It is about the people I serve, and it is about ensuring confidence in our elections," said the email sent just as thousands were marching up Pennsylvania Avenue from a rally outside the White House headlined by Trump. "That's why I am standing up on behalf of the people I serve to relay their concerns to Washington. For conviction. For principle. For our country. For YOUR VOTE."
The Star editorialized that Hawley, if he had a conscience, would resign. The editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the state's other main newspaper, also called for Hawley's resignation from the Senate.
Simon & Schuster, a ViacomCBS division, canceled publication of Hawley's upcoming book, "The Tyranny of Big Tech."
The publisher said it values diverse viewpoints. "At the same time, we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom," it said in a statement.
Hawley responded by calling the decision a "direct assault on the First Amendment," a comment for which he was roundly criticized in that the amendment protects from government infringement the freedoms speech, religion, press and assembly, along with the right to petition authorities for redress, and does not require a company to publish material that it chooses not to.
"I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have," Hawley tweeted. "We'll see you in court."
See:Simon & Schuster cancels upcoming book by Sen. Josh Hawley after Capitol siege
Danforth, who served for three terms, said he remembers how impressed he was when he first met Hawley at a dinner party when Hawley was just a law student. The young man reminded him of his friend, Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Danforth said.
"I felt he could add real intellectual heft and make a great, great contribution to the Senate," he said.
Now Danforth wonders how Hawley will be able to work with his Senate colleagues, even Republicans, moving forward.
"How is he going to operate in the Senate with Republicans? When [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell pleads don't do this and he does it, and then this is the consequence," he said. "How is he going to get along with his colleagues? How is he going to do anything? What's his political future?"
MarketWatch contributed.
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Hmmmmmmm...... pass the popcorn please.
I left an email on his Senate site this morning suggesting he resign before he got anyone else killed.....
Why was I just thinking of heads on pikes?
He also lost his book deal with Simon and Shuster.
His wife seems to persona non grata as well.
Erin Hawley’s Association with Elite Law Firm Kirkland & Ellis Scrubbed from Internet in Wake of Capitol Coup
The hits just seem to keep coming........ Need to find out if Missouri has a recall in their state constitution.
Fly i think most states do have a recall provision in their constitutions , the issue is the needed percentage of registered voters needed to initiate the action, usually those percentages are set really high by petition.
then there is a time constraint of how long it will take for the process to be worked through so dependent on the office held it might not be worth it since the individual would be up for re election and removed that way. and thats not even considering the legal challenges in court that would occur further stretching out the time line.
oh that's harsh
i have read there is a call to censure him , now i need popcorn.
Here is a very spot on description of him the other day that I came across
That is Josh Hawely in a nut shell, all talk and absolutely no backbone, a complete fraud to the core.
And more hits.
MU law students call for Hawley's resignation
Keep this up, and this kid isn't going to find a rock he can hide under...... excuse me.... slither under!
How many of these Trump supporting Representatives & Senators will lose committee seats? Get primaried by their own party? I'm guessing not too many of them. We'll see.
They will all close ranks come noon 20JAN21 to continue to put party over country.
The next 2 years will either get more crazy or fade back into boring. I'm hoping boring wins out, but realistically I don't think it will. There hasn't been enough blood to appease the old gods, yet.
I really could use some boring for awhile
Sadly, I think your right EG.
with the rwnj run for the '24 white house just beginning and all the collateral damage from the failed campaign in '20 just now splitting the right wing apart? good luck with that.
well hell
My best recommendation Trout.... Drink liberally! Drink like a fish!
I will run with that recommendation....straight to the nearest liquor store
Bong hits anyone?
way ahead of you ...
Hawley's political future?
Dead man walking.
What was the movie with Christopher Walken... The Dead Zone...?
Where protagonist running for president committed suicide after hiding behind a child for protection from a sniper....
Wasn't that actually Martin Sheen's character, the one who was running for president, who hid behind the child? I need to look that up. I see tRump doing the same thing - hiding behind a child, hiding behind ANYONE to save his big fat ass. A lot of people find a comparison to that movie and tRump and the nuclear codes.
Here's tRump when there's danger afoot
That's the one...... Candidate Stilton.
You were right
"Later on, Johnny attends a rally for Greg Stillson, a superficially charismatic third-party candidate for the United States Senate , for whom Sarah and her husband volunteer. (Stillson is, in actuality, a ruthless demagogue.) Johnny shakes Stillson's hand and has a vision of his future. He sees Stillson becoming President of the United States and then, after dreaming that God has spoken to him, ordering a preemptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union , resulting in a nuclear holocaust .
Johnny seeks out Weizak's advice, asking if the doctor would have killed Adolf Hitler before his rise to power if he had the chance, knowing in advance the atrocities Nazi Germany would commit. Weizak replies that he would have had no choice but to kill him in order to save lives and prevent harm. Johnny brings up the fact that stopping Hitler could result in sacrificing one's own life in the process, but Weizak believes such sacrifice would be necessary. Johnny also reveals that visions of the future include a blind spot, a "dead zone," and that he saw such a dead zone when he foresaw young Chris's death. After learning that Chris's death was prevented after Johnny's vision, Weizak hypothesizes the dead zone is an indicator that the future is not set and can be altered.
Johnny leaves Sarah a letter, telling her that what he is about to do will cost him his life, but that it will be a sacrifice he is willing to make. He takes position in a balcony at Stillson's next rally, where Sarah and her family are in attendance, and takes aim at the politician. Johnny's shot misses and Stillson instinctively grabs Sarah's baby, holding him up as a human shield. Johnny refuses to risk shooting the child. Meanwhile, a photographer snaps a picture of Stillson holding Dennis. Sarah gets her baby back and Johnny attempts to kill Stillson again but is shot down by his security and falls from the balcony. Confronted by an angry Stillson, Johnny grabs his hand. He now foresees Stillson's reputation and political ambitions ruined by the published photograph of his cowardly act of using a child as a shield, which leads the despondent politician to commit suicide.
As Stillson leaves to search for the photographer, Johnny is satisfied he has prevented a nuclear apocalypse. Sarah embraces him and tells him she loves him as he dies.