In Missouri, a state Trump won by almost 16 percentage points, some argued Hawley was blameless. In the deeply divided GOP, that may not be the prevailing view. “I think they should just be flat beaten the next time they run.” They are part of the big lie,” Biden said, stopping short of suggesting they resign. “I think the American public has a real good clear look at who they are. President-elect Joe Biden echoed the sentiment, calling Hawley and Cruz “just as responsible as" Trump for Wednesday's violence, during a press conference Friday. Mitt Romney blasted those who objected to finalizing President-elect Joe Biden’s election.Īccusing Trump of inciting insurrection, 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.” He faced instant rebuke from his own party. Still, Hawley asked his Senate colleagues “to address the concerns of so many millions of Americans” by investigating the 2020 vote. 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.ĭozens of courts, state elections officials and even Trump’s former attorney general have said there was no evidence of widespread election fraud. As the Senate began debate, pro-Trump mobs barreled into the Capitol and interrupted proceedings. Ben Sasse of Nebraska or Tom Cotton of Arkansas, two other young Republicans viewed as having presidential ambitions.Īs he walked into the Capitol on Wednesday, Hawley cheered on pro-Trump protesters gathering outside the building with a thumbs up and fist pump.īut Hawley’s scheme fell apart almost before it got going. Soon Hawley and Cruz were leading about 10 other senators in the effort - notably not winning over Sens. The move instantly raised his national profile. Support of the challenge to the electoral vote count was seen as keeping in good stead with Trump’s supporters, who dominate the Republican base. 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. The Stanford- and Yale- educated lawyer was young, ambitious and savvy. Claire McCaskill in 2018, was once celebrated by the Republican establishment as a rising star. Josh Hawley has blood on his hands in Capitol coup attempt,” read the headline of the editorial. The Kansas City Star went a step further, saying in an editorial posted late Wednesday that no one other than Trump was more responsible than Hawley. "The post-insurrection calculation to continue the charade is fallacious and dangerous.” “The initial decision to oppose the will of the people was downright wrong," Stewart said. Ted Cruz, who like Hawley, drew significant criticism for pushing ahead with the Electoral College challenge. “There will be political fallout for his actions,” said Alice Stewart, a Republican strategist and former adviser to the 2016 presidential campaign of Texas Sen. 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. And that’s great damage.”Īside from President Donald Trump, who roiled up supporters just before they stormed the Capitol, no politician has been more publicly blamed for Wednesday’s unprecedented assault on American democracy than Hawley. He has attempted to drive us apart and he has undermined public belief in our democracy. “He has consciously appealed to the worst. John Danforth told the Associated Press on Thursday. was the worst decision I’ve ever made in my life,” former Missouri Sen. Capitol, the words of his political mentor were the most personal. 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 U.S. A Republican colleague rebuked him on the Senate floor.
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