Hotel firm drops Hawley fundraiser

Loews Hotels said Saturday that it would not host a fundraiser with Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, the latest indication that many companies are distancing themselves from Republicans who voted to overturn the election results.

Fighting for Missouri, a political action committee affiliated with Hawley, had planned to host a “fun-filled, family-friendly Orlando weekend event” with the senator at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Florida on Feb. 12-15, according to an invitation. Tickets were being sold for $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the size of the group.

But Loews said the fundraiser was called off after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol, which many Democrats and Republicans have blamed in part on Hawley and other members of his party who supported President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s victory.

“We are horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited the actions,” the company said on Twitter. “In light of those events and for the safety of our guests and team members, we have informed the host of the Feb. fundraiser that it will no longer be held at Loews Hotels.”

“If these corporations don’t want conservatives to speak, they should just be honest about it,” Hawley said in a statement. “But to equate leading a debate on the floor of the Senate with inciting violence is a lie, and it’s dangerous. I will not be deterred from representing my constituents, and I will not bow to left-wing corporate pressure.”