Photographer: Greg Nash / The Hill / Bloomberg
Photographer: Greg Nash / The Hill / Bloomberg
Republican Senator and former Missouri State Attorney General Josh Hawkley has received an incredible setback for his role in challenging President Donald Trump’s defeat of Joe Biden, as violent riots erupted in the Capitol.
Hawley, along with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, eventually led the effort to extend Biden’s electoral victory in key states, and the two attempted to raise campaign funds from their efforts.
An image of protesters saluting Hawley with a push before a storm hit the Capitol on Wednesday, including a fist pump, showed fellow senators, two of his state’s largest newspapers, a major donor, and a former Republican Criticized the senator, which increased his rapid political support.
It also led Simon & Schuster to cancel a contract for Howley’s upcoming book “The Tyranny of Big Tech”. The publishing company said it could not support Senator Hawley after his role in “poses a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom.”
The attack has given rise to questions about Hawley’s political future, such as the senator, who turned 41 on New Year’s Eve, appearing to position himself for the 2024 presidential term in Trump’s populist style Huh.
Asked on Friday if Hawley and Cruz should resign, Biden said: “I think they should just be beaten flat the next time they run.”
‘Down the toilet’
At least three Democratic senators, Washington State’s Patty Murray, Delaware’s Chris Coons and Oregon’s Ron Viden went ahead and called Havel and Cruz to resign. About Hawley, so was the Kansas City Star and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board. The latter wrote that his “presidential aspirations have been flushed down the toilet because of his role in instigating Wednesday’s attack on democracy.”
But perhaps more emblematic of Howell’s potentially damaged political future were comments by businessman David Humphrey, Joplin, Missouri-based chief executive, Tamco Building Products, who gave Republicans nearly $ 350,000 in the 2020 election cycle.
Humphries said in a statement to the Bloomberg government that Hawley’s “anti-democratic rhetoric” incited violence threatening Congress.
“Haffle’s irresponsible, inflammatory and dangerous strategy has provoked violence and further discord across America,” Humphries said. “And he has now revealed himself as a political opportunist who is ready to pursue the Constitution and the ideals of the nation.”
‘Biggest mistake’
Howle also erased the wrath of 84-year-old John Danforth, who completed three terms as a Republican senator from Missouri and fueled the rise of the aspiring young legislator.
“I thought she was special. And I tried my best to have people support him for the Attorney General and later the US Senate, and that was the biggest mistake of my life, ”the elder statesman told the Kansas City Star.
Danforth told several state media outlets that Holly’s actions led to violence on Wednesday.
Hawley’s office declined to comment, as did a majority of Senate leaders, an aide to Mitch McConnell.
McConnell convinced most Senate Republicans to reject Biden’s attempt to prevent an Electoral College victory, before and after hours of pro-Trump rioters entered the Capitol. The Senate rejected objections to the electoral votes for Arizona and Pennsylvania by votes of 93–6 and 92–7, although Hawley and Cruz supported both.
Call for sensor
Howley said in a statement by outlets in Missouri that he was proud of his actions.
“I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections,” he said.
Humphries called for Howell to be closed by the Senate to ease the peaceful transition of power.
Still, it is unlikely that neither Hawley nor Cruz will pay much of a political cost, Doug Haye, a former Republican House aide who also worked in the George W. Bush administration.
“Major donors walking away from a politician are important,” said Hei. “But the reality is that this is not how the money is raised, and Hawley and Cruz can make a strategic decision that they don’t need anymore because they can make $ 3, $ 4, $ 10 more at a clip. . “
Different environment
Hennett said that Hanley’s political ambition also cannot be hurt by the Senate. “And with Cruz, some of it has been baked for so long,” he said of the 2016 presidential candidate.
“We’re in a different political environment,” Hay said. “This is part of Trump’s success – he will break the norms.”
Republican Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska sharply criticized Hawley’s actions during an NPR interview Friday, saying he “did something that was really dumb” that helped spark violence in the Capitol.
Earlier, Sasse said via Facebook that the violence was the inevitable result of Trump’s addiction to frequent Trump’s division.
“When we talk in private, I haven’t heard a single congressional Republican say that the election results were frauds – not one,” said the mother-in-law. “Instead I hear them talking about their concerns about how ‘they’ will see more enthusiastic supporters of President Trump.”
Haye even discussed Hawley’s book contract, which Yale-educated constitutional counsel called a “direct attack on First Amendment” in a tweet that may eventually help him.
“The reality is that they will get another publisher,” Haye said. “His book just got more attention.”
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