Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Is facing sentencing of Republican Party members and former supporters after leading an effort to oppose the Electoral College certification, which many believe contributed to the Capitol’s violent siege on Wednesday -market.
Why it matters: Hawley, who was elected to the Senate in 2018, was seen as one of the fastest rising stars in the Republican Party and a potential candidate for the presidency in 2024. But the 41-year-old senator’s future prospects are now at risk after he challenged the leadership of the Republican Party to become the first senator to say he would object to certifying the victory of President-elect Biden’s Electoral College.
Driving the news: Simon & Schuster announced on Thursday that they would cancel the publication of Hawley’s next book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech”, saying he “cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what has become a dangerous threat”.
- Hawley answered for calling the “Orwellian” movement, accusing a Simon & Schuster “wide-awake crowd” of engaging in “a direct attack on the First Amendment”.
Former Missouri Senator John Danforth, who mentored Hawley and called him a candidate “once in a generation,” said Thursday: “I thought he was special. And I did my best to encourage people to support him for both the attorney general and the United States Senate and it was the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. “
The Kansas City Star, a local Missouri newspaper, said in an editorial on Wednesday that Hawley had “blood on his hands” and asked for his resignation on Friday.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also asked for Hawley’s resignation in an editorial on Thursday, writing: “Americans are fed up with Trumpism and the lying populist politicians who embraced him. Hawley’s presidential aspirations were ruled out because of his role in instigating Wednesday’s attack. about democracy. He should do the residents of Missouri and the rest of the country a big favor and step down now. “
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) attacked Hawley on the Senate floor on Wednesday, saying that “those who choose to continue to support [Trump’s] The dangerous move in opposing the results of a legitimate democratic election will forever be seen as an accomplice in an unprecedented attack on our democracy, ”says the AP.
David Humphreys, a Missouri businessman who helped finance Hawley’s first campaign, released a statement calling the senator a “political opportunist” and arguing that he “should be censored by his Senate colleagues for his actions that undermined a peaceful transition of power and for causing yesterday’s disturbances in our country’s capital. “
Shamed Dogan, a Republican state senator in Missouri, tweeted who regretted having voted for Hawley in 2018: “His refusal to accept the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election, even after today’s violence, is a shame.”
The other side: Hawley said in a statement to the Kansas City Star that “I would never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who care about the integrity of our elections. This is my job, and I will continue to do so.”