Hawley defends actions amid backlash in wake of DC riot
O’FALLON, Mo. — Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, facing waning support from longtime backers and donors in the wake of the attack at the U.S. Capitol last week, defended himself in a newspaper column Wednesday, accusing the media and “Washington establishment” of deceiving Americans into calling him an “insurrectionist.”
Hawley’s column appeared in the Southeast Missourian, a daily newspaper in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. It marked the first time Hawley, 41, has publicly defended himself since the brutal attack Jan. 6 when a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol following the president’s rally.
Five people died, including a Capitol police officer, and lawmakers had to scramble for safety and hide as rioters rampaged through the building, delaying by hours the tally of Electoral College votes that was the last step in finalizing Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump.
Hawley was the first senator to announce a challenge to the Electoral College results, and his challenge went on even after the attack.
Concerns were also raised after a photo emerged of Hawley greeting protesters outside the Capitol with a raised fist, though that was taken before the mob stormed the building.
Hawley, in the column, noted that Democrats objected after losing the 2000, 2004 and 2016 presidential elections and were “praised for standing up to democracy.”
“This time around, anyone who objected has been called an ‘insurrectionist,’ ” he wrote. “Sadly, much of the media and many members of the Washington establishment want to deceive Americans into thinking those who raised concerns incited violence, simply by voicing the concern. That’s false. And the allegation itself is corrosive and dangerous.”
Other than Trump himself, no politician has suffered the fallout as has Hawley. Multiple donors have pulled financial support.
Meanwhile, the Trump-opposing Lincoln Project said it would take out newspaper ads calling out his remaining donors.
Email messages seeking comment from Hawley’s office Wednesday have not been returned.
The health care IT firm Cerner Corp., based in Kansas City, Missouri, said Wednesday that it will suspend contributions “to any candidate or official who took part in or incited violence last week in Washington, D.C.”
Cerner joined other companies.
Hawley, in his 739-word essay, said those involved in the Capitol attack must be punished, saying, “Mob violence is always wrong.
“But democratic debate is not mob violence,” Hawley wrote. “It is in fact how we avoid that violence.”
Hawley wrote that he has heard from many Missourians concerned about election integrity.
“They have a right to be heard in Congress,” he said. “And as their representative, it is my duty to speak on their behalf. That is just what I did last week.”