Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) has been criticized following the violent pro-Trump protest in D.C. Wednesday which left one woman dead, as his words and actions may have helped to incite the mob.
In a scathing editorial, the Kansas City Star noted that Hawley has the first to say he would oppose certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory on Jan. 6. His statement prompted a handful of Trump loyalists to follow his lead and reject the results, including Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Roger Marshall (R-Kansas).
However, after several delays instigated by Hawley-aligned Republicans, Congress ultimately certified the election.
The Star condemned Hawley for promoting “bogus” claims of election fraud that led to Wednesday’s seeming attack on democracy.
“No doubt plenty of Americans will see even this free-for-all in the temple of democracy as defensible,” the editorial board wrote. “And those of you who have excused all of the brazen lawlessness of this administration can take a little bit of credit for these events, too. They couldn’t have done it without you.”
The op-ed continued: “Hawley, Marshall and other Republicans who upheld Trump’s con about widespread fraud knew all along that his claims were bogus. Now that they’ve seen exactly where those lies have landed us, decency demanded that they try to prevent further violence by making clear that President-elect Joe Biden did not win by cheating.”
Others similarly took to Twitter to condemn Hawley.
Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, wrote that he “emboldened the terrorists.”
Author Brittney Cooper wrote that Hawley could potentially pose a larger threat than Trump due to his eloquence.
“We have a Josh Hawley problem. And Congress needs to shut him down before he gets started,” she said. “But they won’t because he’s young and wears a suit and tie well. He’s a more articulate Trump. Congress needs to legally do something about him — TODAY.”
