A Walmart employee received a free rental offer from an admirer on social media after using the company’s Twitter account to call Republican Senator Josh Hawley a “bad loser” for swearing to oppose Congress that officially certifies victory. President-elect Joe Biden next week.
The employee used the Walmart account to respond to a tweet from Hawley announcing that he would oppose Biden’s certification in support of President Donald Trump’s baseless allegations of widespread electoral fraud. The unauthorized tweet angered Hawley and infuriated Trump supporters, who swore to boycott the company, but others sought to financially reward the employee who did so.
“For the Walmart employee who boldly posted the tweet #soreloser on twitter @Walmart, please get in touch with me,” Don Winslow, a popular fiction writer and frequent Trump critic, tweeted on Wednesday night. “I want to pay your rent / mortgage payment next month. And yes, I’m serious.”
Additional Twitter users responded to Winslow’s tweet with similar offers of money to the anonymous employee, with several suggesting that a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign should also be started.
The employee’s identity is still unknown, however, Winslow tweeted that the employee must be able to provide proof of his job at Walmart and access to the company’s corporate social media account when asked about the scheme’s viability, adding that “it is not complicated and I’ve done it before. “
The deleted tweet told Hawley to “go ahead” and “start your 2-hour debate”, along with the hashtag #soreloser. It was done in response to a tweet from Hawley explaining that he would oppose Biden’s victory on January 6 because “millions of voters concerned about electoral integrity deserve to be heard”.
“Thanks @Walmart for your insulting condescension. Now that you’ve insulted 75 million Americans, can you at least apologize for using slave labor?” Hawley tweeted in response. “Or maybe you would like to apologize for the pathetic wages you pay your workers while taking mom and pop stores out of business.”
Casey Staheli, senior national media relations manager at Walmart, said Newsweek that the tweet “was mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team who intended to post this comment on his personal account”, before apologizing to Hawley for “this error and any confusion about our position”. Hawley has not yet publicly commented on Walmart’s apologies.
Hawley’s commitment to challenge certification and similar promises made by several House Republicans means that Congress will debate the issue, but the challenges will not change the outcome of the election. For an objection to be accepted, both chambers of Congress would have to vote in favor.
It is extremely unlikely that the Democratic-controlled House will vote in favor of any objection. The Republican-controlled Senate is also unlikely to comply, as several Republican senators congratulated Biden and urged Trump to stop promoting unverified theories of electoral fraud.
Newsweek contacted Hawley’s office for comment.
Anna Moneymaker-Pool / Getty