Josh Hawley Roasted Over Impeachment Cowardice By Missouri Newspaper

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In a new editorial, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch strongly condemned Missouri Sens. Josh Hawley and Roy Blunt, both of whom are Republicans, for their conduct surrounding the rioting at the Capitol on January 6 and the ensuing impeachment trial against ex-President Donald Trump on a charge of incitement of insurrection. Hawley, of course, helped lead the charge to challenge the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral college victory, and the rioters at the Capitol used the accompanying lie that the 2020 presidential election was rigged as a pretext for their actions.

The Post-Dispatch said, in part, as follows:

‘The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump should be an opportunity for Missouri Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley to redeem themselves for blindly supporting a man whose conduct was indefensible. Instead, they continue bringing additional embarrassment to the state after having flirted with the abolition of democracy in favor of keeping a dictator wannabe in the White House… Missourians must not allow themselves to be fooled by the weak boilerplate defenses by Hawley and Blunt.’

Besides the issues with Hawley’s behavior, the paper also noted that Blunt “had the gall to tell reporters that, until a 13-minute video of the Capitol attack was shown to senators on Tuesday, he had never taken so much time to watch what occurred” on January 6.

According to the paper, constituents who’ve written to Hawley about the impeachment proceedings against Trump over his role in inciting the violence have received “form-letter responses” including a February 4 letter in which Hawley complained that the process has “diverted our attention from critical issues such as the crisis of suicide, rising health care and housing costs, and the lack of internet access in rural areas.” Referring to an infamous instance when Hawley raised his fist in pompous solidarity with the mob that eventually stormed the Capitol, the paper mockingly said that it’s “just a matter of time before Hawley starts asserting that when he fist-pumped the mob as it swarmed the Capitol on Jan. 6, he was actually fist-pumping his attention to suicide, housing costs and rural internet access.” Neither Hawley nor Blunt have acknowledged issues with their personal behavior.