Walmart apologizes to Hawley after company’s Twitter account called him a sore loser
Walmart apologized to Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley after the retail giant’s Twitter account mocked his plan to object to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory next week.
Hawley’s objection — along with objections from House Republicans — will force roll call votes on the Electoral College results. The maneuver stands little chance of success as Democrats control the House, but it will provide a dramatic climax after weeks of post-election lawsuits.
After Hawley made his announcement on Twitter, Walmart’s official account responded to Hawley with a now deleted tweet, “Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #soreloser.”
The tweet ignited a backlash from President Donald Trump’s supporters who began calling for a boycott of Walmart.
The company apologized in a statement, which explained that a social media employee had intended to post the comment from a personal account.
“The tweet was mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team who intended to publish this comment to their personal account. We have removed the post and have no intention of commenting on the subject of certifying the electoral college,” the statement said. “We apologize to Senator Hawley for this error and any confusion about our position.”
Hawley responded to the company’s deleted tweet with a pair of tweets attacking the company’s labor practices and accusing it of insulting Trump’s supporters.
“Thanks @Walmart for your insulting condescension. Now that you’ve insulted 75 million Americans, will you at least apologize for using slave labor?” Hawley said. “Or maybe you’d like to apologize for the pathetic wages you pay your workers as you drive mom and pop stores out of business.”
Trump received more than 74 million votes. Biden received more than 81 million.
