Who is Josh Hawley, the other major instigator of the Capitol Hill uprising?

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O’Fallon – A Republican fellow believer beat him in the same Senate. The editor of a newspaper in his state said he had “blood on his hands.” But what certainly hurt Josh Hawley most, the Missouri senator whose challenge from the Electoral College sparked the takeover of Congress, were the words of his mentor.

“Supporting Josh Hawley … was the worst decision I made in my life”, former Missouri Senator John Danforth told the Associated Press on Thursday. “He deliberately appealed to the worst we have. He tried to distance himself from us and undermined people’s confidence in our democracy. It caused great damage. “

With the exception of Donald Trump, who cheered on his supporters shortly before they stormed the Capitol, no other politician has been held responsible for what happened as Hawley. 41-year-old senator serving his first term and who has so far sat in the background, In a short space of time, he became one of Trump’s most strident supporters and probably one of the worst to escape what happened in Washington on January 6.

“His actions will have political ramifications,” predicted Alice Steward, a Republican strategist who advised Senator Ted Cruz in his failed 2016 presidential election. The initial decision to oppose the popular will was very wrong. And his bet after the uprising, in which he continued this farce, is deceitful and dangerous ”.

Hawley was considered a promising figure in the Republican Party when he defeated Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill in 2018. He was a lawyer who attended Stanford and Yale and was young, ambitious and astute. He surprised many when he was the first to say he supported the false allegations of voter fraud and forced the lower house and senate to vote with the intent of failing.

His support for questioning the electoral process has been seen as a way to gain favor with Trump supporters, who dominate the Republican base. His attitude immediately gave him a rural appearance. Together with Cruz, he led the efforts of a dozen senators who raised questions about the election results.

When he arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday, Hawley encouraged the protesters who gathered in front of the building and raised his finger and fist. However, his plan came to nothing shortly afterwards, when the Trumpist crowd stormed the building and forced the congressional meeting to be suspended. When the session resumed, after a woman was shot by police and parts of the senate were destroyed, support for Trump’s claims had waned.

Dozens of courts, election officials, and even former Trump Attorney General William Barr himself have said there is no evidence of widespread electoral fraud. Still, Hawley asked his colleagues in the Senate to “take into account the concerns of so many millions of Americans” and investigate the vote.

His position was immediately rejected by his own party. Very close to him, Senator Mitt Romney sharply criticized those who opposed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Romney accused Trump of encouraging an uprising, saying that “those who decide to continue to support this dangerous gamble by objecting to the results of a legitimate democratic election will forever be seen as complicit in an unprecedented attack on our democracy. “

“That will be his legacy,” he said.

  • The police are trying to stop the protesters in front of the Capitol.

    The police are trying to stop the protesters in front of the Capitol. (The Associated Press)

  • From this window you can see how Donald Trump's supporters got together.

    From this window you can see how Donald Trump’s supporters got together. (The Associated Press)

  • Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington DC around noon to hear from the president shortly after the violent incidents took place.

    Donald Trump supporters gathered in Washington DC around noon to hear from the president shortly after the violent incidents took place. (The Associated Press)

  • Capitol police tried to prevent the protesters from entering.

    Capitol police tried to prevent the protesters from entering. (The Associated Press)

  • Police aim their guns at protesters trying to enter the Capitol.

    Police aim their guns at protesters trying to enter the Capitol. (The Associated Press)

  • Situation within the federal building.

    Situation within the federal building. (The Associated Press)

  • Moment when Donald Trump supporters attempted to pass the police barricade in front of the Capitol.

    Moment when Donald Trump supporters attempted to pass the police barricade in front of the Capitol. (The Associated Press)

  • Eventually they managed to pass the police perimeter.

    Eventually they managed to pass the police perimeter. (The Associated Press)

  • President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally in Washington on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin)

    President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally in Washington on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. (AP Photo / Jacquelyn Martin) (The Associated Press)

  • A woman is helped by the police during the demonstration in the Capitol.

    A woman is helped by the police during the demonstration in the Capitol. (The Associated Press)

In a highly divided Republican party, that may not be the dominant position. In Missouri, a state that Trump won by almost 16 points, some say Hawley’s stance is not blameworthy.

“To hold Senator Hawley responsible for people who came to the Capitol to break windows, wear helmets and try to enter by force, is absurd,” said Republican State Representative Justin Hill, who withdrew from participating in his own inaugural ceremony. to the Washington protest.

Hill said Hawley was “defending the constitution.”

Like Danforth, another Republican senator, Shamed Dogan, from Ballwin, a suburb of St. Louis, said he regretted supporting Hawley.

“I’ve never regretted a vote as much as my vote for @HawleyMO in 2018,” he said in a tweet. “His refusal to accept the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election, even after today’s violence, is a shame.”

The barrage continued. The Law Students Association of the University of Missouri Law School, where Hawley taught, issued a statement calling for his resignation.

The Kansas City Star newspaper said Hawley was the second most important person responsible for the capture of the Capitol, only after Trump, stressing that the senator had asked for contributions to that case when the crowd besieged Congress.

“This is not about me! It has to do with the people I serve, I’m trying to instill confidence in our election, ”Hawley said in an email as thousands of people marched down Pennsylvania Avenue after attending a Trump rally in front of the White House. “That is why I am here, on behalf of the people I serve, to voice their concerns … Out of conviction. By principles. For our country. By YOUR VOICE ”.

Simon & Schuster publishing house has suspended publication of a Hawley book, “The Tyranny of the Big Tech,” about major technology companies.

Danforth, who has served three terms in the Senate, said he remembered how much he had impressed Hawley when he first saw him at dinner, when Hawley was a law student. He said it reminded him of an old friend, Democratic Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

“I thought he had great intellectual capacity and that he could contribute a lot to the Senate,” he said.

Now Danforth wonders if Hawley has a future in Congress.

How’s he going to deal with Republicans in the Senate? If (Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell asks you not to do something and he does it, with these consequences … ”he stated. “How do you deal with your colleagues? Can you do anything? What is your political future?

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