Missouri Senator Josh Hawley on Friday urged fellow Republicans to support the breakup of Big Tech “oligarchs” who censor political positions as well as large corporations who “sold us to China.”
Hawley called for a “ new nationalism ” that will reclaim the Teddy Roosevelt-era GOP’s breach of trust mantra to fight big corporations and Democrats, who he said are collectively sending a false message that the U.S. is “ systemically racist. ” and ‘based on lies. and evil. “
“These modern oligarchs are not going to tell us what to do. What we need is a new nationalism, a new agenda to make the rule of the people of this country real, ”Hawley said in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.
‘I would start by breaking up the Big Tech companies. Just divide them. Distribute them in the name of people’s rule, for the good of the American people and our freedom. We have to split up and downsize those companies. “
Hawley cited conservative censorship on social media, including former President Donald Trump following the Capitol riot.
“People like Google, Facebook, have you heard of them? Twitter, these companies have more power than any company in US history and they are joining the radical left to try to impose their agenda on this country,” he said.
“They want to run this country. And if we don’t do something, they will. And we have a word for that. It’s called oligarchy. And that’s what we’re dealing with in America right now. “
Hawley said the Republican Party, while long considered the party of business, also has a history of breaking trust – recalling the Roosevelt-led indictment of major corporations that helped the party splinter between factions led by Roosevelt in 1912. and his successor as president, William Howard Taft.
“The Republican Party, we were once the party of trustbusters, you know. I mean, we actually invented the concept. It’s time to reclaim that legacy, ”Hawley said.
“It’s time to reclaim that legacy and not just for Big Tech, but for all the big multinationals that have sold us out to China, that have sold out our employees who have sold out our jobs. They must be broken up. And we need free and fair competition again in this country. “
Hawley said he was unfairly attacked for objecting to President Biden’s voter certification of Pennsylvania in an attempt to force a national review of voter fraud allegations.
“If we can’t have a free and open debate in this country, we won’t have any more land,” Hawley said.
If we cannot have a free and open debate, under the laws of the United States Senate, then what’s the point of the Senate? Why are you sending anyone to Washington at all? I thought it was an important position to take. And for that, the left has come behind me. They tried to silence me. They canceled a book – a book I was writing was called ‘The Tyranny of Big Tech’. These people have no sense of irony, it is still being published by the way, it will be out soon. “
Hawley is a leader among the conservative populists after Trump in Washington. In December, he teamed up with Vermont Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders to push for $ 2,000 stimulus vouchers opposed by GOP Senate leaders, and on Friday called for the approval of a $ 15 minimum wage for companies with sales in excess of $ 1 billion.