Josh Hawley facing scorn, calls for his resignation following objection to Biden win
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is facing condemnation and calls from across the political spectrum for his resignation, with critics charging that he helped create the climate for Wednesday’s Capitol riot by being the first to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College certification.
Hawley, in response, told The Star on Thursday that he won’t apologize for doing his job.
George Will, a conservative political commentator, spoke out against Hawley in a Washington Post column Wednesday, saying his objection “turned this moment into the focus of the hitherto unfocused fury that (President Donald) Trump had been stoking for many weeks.”
Will also attacked Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who organized Republican support for Hawley’s objection. He said that while Trump will leave office in two weeks, Hawley and Cruz will be virtual pariahs in the Senate.
“It will take longer to scrub the other two from public life,” Will wrote. “Until that hygienic outcome is accomplished, from this day forward, everything they say or do or advocate should be disregarded as patent attempts to distract attention from the lurid fact of what they have become. Each will wear a scarlet ‘S’ as a seditionist.”
Hawley also is under fire from the law school that once employed him.
The Student Bar Association of Mizzou Law released a letter late Wednesday calling on Hawley to resign. It accused him of “relentless pursuit of power” in objecting to the certification process.
“As he walked into the U.S. Capitol building earlier today to object to a free and fair election, Senator Hawley raised a fist in solidarity with insurrectionists who would soon illegally occupy the building and who would seek to rip the Constitution to shreds,” the letter stated, in part. “He should resign immediately.”
Hawley, when asked for his response to the comments from both Will and the Student Bar Association of Mizzou Law, released a statement to The Star.
“I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections,” Hawley said. “That’s my job, and I will keep doing it.”
Less surprising, but just as forceful, are Democratic calls for Hawley to give up his post.
That includes New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who mentioned Hawley in a tweet that first chastised Cruz for his “craven, self-serving actions.”
“Both you and Senator Hawley must resign,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “If you do not, the Senate should move for your expulsion.”
Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush also posted about Hawley on Twitter, saying: “You have blood on your hands, and that’s why I’m calling for your removal from Congress.”
In addition, Texas Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro posted on social media Wednesday that he believed both Hawley and Cruz should resign, with brother and former presidential candidate Julian retweeting the message.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 12:34 PM.
