Do Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley want Donald Trump in the first line of their obituaries?
On Jan. 6, we learned how Sen. Josh Hawley’s obituary someday will begin: with his career forever defined by his fist pumping support of the violent pro-Trump mob seeking to overturn a democratic election. On Feb. 13, we discovered what Sen. Roy Blunt’s first sentence would include. Turns out they are substantially the same.
The second impeachment of Donald Trump was the most bipartisan impeachment in U.S. history. But on a historic day when seven Republicans voted to convict the former president, the consciences of Missouri’s senators appeared untroubled by the insurrection the former president incited. With the Capitol Police who the mob brutalized standing guard during the vote, Hawley and Blunt instead sided with their pal watching the riots on TV. Their mutual acquiescence will long stain our country and our state.
Hawley rightly received national scorn for his provocative, antidemocratic actions on Jan. 6 that dangerously sowed deeper doubts about an election fairly won by President Joe Biden. But Blunt and Hawley acted as one by voting to acquit the man whose instigation of the attack violated his oath of office.
Thankfully, Blunt did not join Hawley on Jan. 6 in cheering on the mob, cynically fundraising off lies about the election and voting to overturn the will of the people. Yet, he sent the exact same message on Feb. 13: It’s OK for a president to try to overturn an election as long as that president is, as Blunt put it, on “our side.” For both Missouri senators, partisan tribalism matters more than democratic principles.
As someone who volunteered on one of Blunt’s early congressional campaigns, I am left wondering what happened to the man I once admired. We graduated from the same Missouri Christian college, Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, where he also served as president. And as Baptists, we’ve worshiped together in the same church.
I thought I knew the values behind the senator’s political ambitions. Now, I realize politics has become the end in itself, not a way of advancing justice and the common good. For him, polls trump principles.
Back in 1998, when justifying his vote to impeach Bill Clinton, Blunt said, “It is my desire that this embarrassment on the presidency and our country end quickly, but the Constitution cannot be rewritten by public opinion polls or by political expediency.”
But now, Blunt condones presidential abuse of power by a Republican, even though he previously voted to impeach a Democrat for much less significant offenses. If character mattered during the Clinton impeachment, why does it not matter today?
As with Hawley, this vote will define Blunt — much as support for Richard Nixon headlined the later obituaries of Republicans who backed that corrupt president during Watergate. Blunt won’t escape that fate just because he didn’t raise his fist. As a member of the Republican leadership in the Senate and with decades of experience in Congress, Blunt’s position and seniority placed even greater moral responsibility upon him. But with this vote he joined Hawley in undermining our democracy and encouraging future attacks on our government.
Blunt may think he needed to vote to acquit to help his own reelection campaign next year. And Hawley may think this helps him run for president. That might all be true, but is it worth it? As the Jesus that Blunt, Hawley and I all profess to follow warned in Matthew 16:26: “What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?”
There are more important things than winning an election, serving in the U.S. Senate or even living in the White House. Former President Jimmy Carter, a Baptist Sunday school teacher, proved this well over the past four decades of constructing homes and working for peace and fair elections around the world. Rather than allowing an electoral defeat to define him, he dedicated himself to building humanity and safeguarding democracy.
And while our two senators cannot undo their vote, it does not mean they cannot redeem the rest of their time. They could still walk away from the Trumpian way and work toward making this nation better for everyone. But it will take the sacrifice, courage and principles they lacked in recent years.
The question for Hawley and Blunt now is: What do you want the second line of your obituary someday to say? I hope they make it better than the first.
Brian Kaylor, a Baptist minister with a Ph.D. in political communication, is editor of Word&Way magazine. He is also the author of four books on religion and politics.
This story was originally published February 17, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Do Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley want Donald Trump in the first line of their obituaries?."