A local newspaper in Missouri wrote a scathing rebuke of the state’s Sen. Josh Hawley, calling the populist Republican “quite possibly the worst sitting senator in America right now.”
In an op-ed endorsing Hawley’s Democratic challenger, Lucas Kunce, the editorial board of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch admonished the Missouri Republican primarily for his actions during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
The editorial board wrote that Hawley had a “singular role in spurring the violence” on Jan. 6. According to the board, Hawley was “the first and initially only senator to announce his baseless challenge of the election results, setting in motion the grotesque events that followed.”
Hawley was one of eight Republican senators who objected to the certification of the 2020 presidential election, and was famously seen greeting the crowd of election deniers with a raised fist.
Later, footage published by the House Select Committee that investigated the attack showed Hawley fleeing past other congressional staffers shortly after stoking the crowd.
The editorial board also cited Hawley’s opposition to foreign aid sent to Ukraine, as well as his “unparalleled record of demagoguery on the Senate floor.”
The editorial implored conservative voters to ignore third-party candidate Jared Young, another conservative candidate endorsed by former Missouri Sen. John Danforth.
Danforth, who was once Hawley’s political mentor, has since come out against his former protege—also due to his role in the Jan. 6 attack.
“Supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life,” Danforth told the Post-Dispatch one day after the Capitol riots in January 2021.
However, it is unclear if the editorial will move the needle against the incumbent senator, who still has a sizable lead over Kunce in most polls, according to FiveThirtyEight’s poll tracker.
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