Video of MissouriSen. Josh Hawley fleeing riotersat the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has inspired ascathing op-ed inThe Kansas City Star, a newspaper based in his state.
“Josh Hawley is a laughingstock,” reads the first line of the editorial board–authored piece, which is headlined: “Fist pumper to fleeing coward: Jan. 6 video shows Missouri who Josh Hawley really is.”
Aphoto of Hawleywalking into a joint session of Congress on the day of the riot shows him holding up a clenched fist in apparent solidarity withDonald Trumpsupporters, who later breached the Capitol in what Jan. 6 investigators have said was aviolent coupintended to halt the counting of electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election thatJoe Bidenwon.
On Thursday, Rep. Elaine Luria said Jan. 6 investigators “spoke with a Capitol Police officer who was out there at that time” the photo was taken.
Josh Hawley Running From the Capitol.The Independent
She then introduced security footage in which Hawley could be seen running out of the building hours after the fist-pump photo was taken.
“Senator Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol,” she said. “See for yourself.”
The footage elicited laughter from many gathered at the hearing, according tothose in attendance.
Sen. Josh Hawley.Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty
The Kansas City Star’s editorial board said the footage “will surely follow him the rest of his life.”
Hawley, the former attorney general of Missouri, was one of the Republicans who objected to thecertification of then President-elect Biden’s election victory, touting unfounded claims of voter fraud. The riot ultimately disrupted the Senate’s process to certify the election results,and led to multiple deaths, including a Capitol Police officer.
“Beyond the physical toll,” writes the editorial board, “is the damage Jan. 6 continues to inflict on our democracy and our shared sense of truth.”
“Hawley has never apologized for attempting to reinstall a man who everyone around him knew had lost the election, as witness testimony continues to confirm,” the op-ed reads. “Surely the Yale and Stanford grad isn’t gullible enough to believe the craven lies about tampering with voting machines and dead people casting ballots that ooze through social media.”
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“Saluting the Trump posse was politically expeditious for him before the siege began,” the board writes about Hawley. “Yet once he realized his own safety was in real danger from the angry revolutionists swarming the building, he hotfooted it away from ‘his’ people to the protection of the security forces charged with protecting him. Where’s that fist in the air now?”
source: people.com
