- When far-right protesters breached the Capitol during the Electoral College certification on Wednesday, several lawmakers were rushed into a safe room to escape the chaos that was unfolding.
- One such legislator was Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, the leader of the Senate’s Republican challenge to victory for President-elect Joe Biden, who was rejected by his colleagues during the incredibly volatile situation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- “It was extremely impressive,” an individual reminded the Journal. “Most of the time, he was in a corner of the room alone, with no one talking to him or recognizing him.”
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When far-right protesters violated the Capitol during the normally mundane certification of the Electoral College on Wednesday, several lawmakers were rushed into a safe room to escape the chaos that had infiltrated their corridors.
One such legislator was Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, the leader of the Senate’s Republican challenge to victory for President-elect Joe Biden, who was rejected by his colleagues during the incredibly volatile situation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
“It was extremely impressive,” reported an individual to the newspaper. “Most of the time, he was in a corner of the room alone, with no one talking to him or recognizing him.”
According to Republican aides, Hawley’s allies in the Republican Party Senate “were furious with him”.
Read more: President-elect Biden expressed confidence that his tenure will be secure. A few hours later, Twitter warned that there were rumors of another attack on Capitol DC on January 17.
Although a number of Democratic lawmakers criticized his efforts to contest Biden’s victory shortly after he announced his intentions in late December, the post-riot reaction is likely to threaten his effectiveness in the House in the future, especially with increasing calls for him to resign.
Hawley, who was elected in 2018 by the removal of Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill for two terms, was considered a likely candidate for the presidency in 2024, was the first senator to announce his objections to the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Many saw Hawley’s move as part of a calculated strategy to become liked by President Donald Trump’s supporters, and as soon as he signed, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is also eyeing the White House, jumped in and brought in several other senators to join the effort.
By law, a formal objection to the results of the Electoral College needs at least one member of the House and one member of the Senate to allow a debate and vote on the maintenance or invalidation of the electoral results of an individual state.
“In the security room on Wednesday, pressure from the Republican Party leadership soon began to persuade the 13 Republican opponents in the Senate to drop any objections to ratification,” according to the Journal.
Cruz then met with Hawley and several other Senate opponents to reach a resolution, but Hawley was the only senator who proceeded. Hawley did not press for more Senate debate, but his challenge to Pennsylvania’s electoral results allowed Republican Party opponents to continue debating the results until the early hours of Thursday morning.
The Biden Electoral College’s 306-232 victory over Trump was then certified, but the setback for Hawley continued.
Former Republican Senator John Danforth of Missouri, one of Hawley’s biggest supporters in the Senate race, said on Thursday that he deeply regretted the decision.
“Supporting Josh and trying hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I’ve ever made in my life,” Danforth told Tony Messenger of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Yesterday was the physical culmination of the long attempt (by Hawley and others) to foster public confidence in our democratic system. It is very dangerous for the United States to continue pushing this idea that the government does not work and that the vote was fraudulent. “
On Thursday, Simon & Schuster announced that they were releasing Hawley’s next book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech”, due out in June 2021.
Despite his growing isolation from colleagues on both sides of the corridor, Hawley said he would not resign.
“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 in a statement. “This is my job and I will keep doing it.”