The editorial board of the Kansas City Star watched Thursday evening’s public hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol building and were struck (like the rest of us) by video of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) running away from rioters he had saluted just hours before.
In response to Hawley’s cowardly actions, the Star published an editorial that makes clear just how despised the senator is among many in his home state:
“During Thursday night’s televised hearings of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Elaine Luria showed video of Missouri’s junior senator that will surely follow him the rest of his life.
“In the clip, Hawley sprints across a hallway as he and his fellow senators are evacuated after insurrectionists had breached the Capitol building. When it played on the screen, the audience in the room with the committee erupted in laughter.”
The editorial then goes on to note that Hawley has long suggested American men are becoming less masculine and bemoaning what he sees as a demise of the “real man” in our culture, a talking point which he seems to have lifted from Fox News host Tucker Carlson:
“A signature Hawley issue is masculinity — as in, how little of it American men seem to have these days. It’s a frequent topic in his speeches and on his podcast, where ‘the left-wing attack on manhood’ is a dire threat to our society. Regnery Publishing is set to release his book ‘Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs’ next year. Twitter didn’t see much virile bravado as he ran from the mob.”
Masculine virtues? How’s that for irony?
However, Hawley could be facing more than embarrassment over his cowardice, the editorial board concludes:
“Shame, clearly, is not a motivating factor for any number of Republicans still caught up in Trumpworld. 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. 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.
Sen. Josh Hawley might not fear a little mockery of his hasty flight from Capitol marauders. But he might be justified if he’s afraid of what emails or text messages some previously-loyal staffer might be considering turning over to the House committee. Stay tuned to the hearings.”
The committee has already announced more hearings will be held beginning in September. That gives Hawley over a month to sit, wonder, and worry.
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