Shortly before a group of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, disrupting a congressional debate on the 2020 Electoral College results, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s campaign sent a fundraising email promoting his planned objection to Pennsylvania’s votes.
Hawley, a first-term Republican and potential candidate for president in 2024, was the first senator to announce his plan to object to the electors of one of the states won by President-elect Joe Biden.
His move last week spurred more Republicans to join the effort, even though Biden won 51% of the popular vote and 306 electoral votes, above the required threshold of 270.
“Many career politicians in the D.C. establishment want me to stay quiet. I suppose you can assume nothing I do will matter. That it won’t matter if I object or not, so I should sit by and do nothing,” Hawley said in the fundraising email, sent after Congress had begun its joint session to count the Electoral College results.
“But this is not about me! It is about the people I serve, and it is about ensuring confidence in our elections.”
An hour later, the Capitol descended into chaos.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, a likely rival of Hawley’s if he pursues the 2024 GOP nomination, formally objected to Arizona’s votes along with 60 House Republicans, setting off what was expected to be a marathon series of debates over individual swing states’ electors.
But the proceedings were halted after a group of pro-Trump rioters entered the Capitol after violently clashing with Capitol Police. Lawmakers were escorted to a secure location. Reporters sheltered in place amid reports of gunfire in the Capitol.
“Today is a dark day for our country. It’s unacceptable that we have a President who has repeatedly condoned and even encouraged this despicable behavior. It must stop,” Rep. Sharice Davids, a Kansas Democrat, said on Twitter as she sheltered in place.
Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican, condemned the violence.
“The events unfolding at the Capitol are shameful. There is no justification for violence and destruction. It has to stop now. This is not who we are as a nation. Thank you to the Capitol Police who are keeping us safe,” said Blunt, a former Missouri secretary of state who has opposed Hawley’s effort to block states’ electors.
The violent scene took place after Trump spent weeks making baseless claims that the election was rigged.
David Plouffe, who managed President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, laid the blame at Cruz and Hawley for giving credence to Trump’s effort to contest the election.
“Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley will never lead the country but they will go down in infamy for leading, instigating and enabling domestic terrorists,” Plouffe said.
E&E News, an outlet that covers energy and environmental legislation, snapped a photo of Hawley raising his fist to the crowd of Trump supporters outside the Capitol before the riot took place. The riot by Trump supporters occurred after Hawley spent the previous two days decrying left-wing violence on social media.
Hawley’s office did not respond to questions about Plouffe’s suggestion that he bore responsibility for the riot, but the senator issued a statement hours later thanking Capitol Police.
“Thank you to the brave law enforcement officials who have put their lives on the line. The violence must end, those who attacked police and broke the law must be prosecuted, and Congress must get back to work and finish its job,” Hawley said.
Sean Soendker Nicholson, a Kansas City consultant who often works for progressive causes, sent The Star a screenshot of a fundraising text message he received from Hawley’s campaign after the rioters had entered the Capitol.
The text said that Hawley was “leading the charge to fight for free and fair elections.”
Before the debate was disrupted, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, delivered a scathing indictment of Trump and others for spreading conspiracy theories about the election.
McConnell said that the efforts to overturn the election were repeatedly rejected by federal courts, including by judges appointed by Trump, and that overturning the results would be an unprecedented step.
“Public doubt alone cannot justify a radical break when the doubt itself was incited without any evidence. The Constitution gives us in Congress a limited role. We cannot simply declare ourselves a national board of elections on steroids,” McConnell said.
“The voters, the courts, the states have all spoken. They’ve all spoken. If we overrule them, it would damage our republic forever.”
Hawley’s predecessor, former Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, pointed to Hawley’s role in intensifying passions in the lead-up to Wednesday’s session.
“Why does it feel like McConnell is staring directly at Hawley during this whole speech. Hawley did it. No one broke until Hawley decided to go lower than a snake’s belly. And while he’s speaking thousands of Trump folks fighting police at the door to the Capitol,” McCaskill said on Twitter as McConnell spoke.
Former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander also chastised Hawley for his rhetoric in recent days.
“You chose something as trivial as your political ambition over our country. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting, Senator. I can’t even imagine entertaining such a choice, let alone making it. What kind of an American does something like this?” Kander said on Twitter.
The riot at the Capitol by Trump supporters took place just two days after Hawley claimed his family was threatened and home was vandalized by what he called “Antifa scumbags” during a protest outside his home in Vienna, Virginia.
Local police contradicted Hawley’s claims of vandalism and called the protest peaceful despite its violation of municipal noise rules and a Virginia statute that restricts protests outside private residences.
The Kansas City Star’ Allison Kite contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 06, 2021 3:06 PM.
