Josh Hawley is convinced that media organizations are out to get him, trying to take away his voice as a powerless, everyday Republican senator from Missouri.
On Tuesday morning, Hawley’s latest grievance was directed at The Washington Post ― the outlet that was giving him a prominent platform to promote his new book.
“Don’t try to censor, cancel and silence me here,” Hawley said.
“Senator, we’re hosting you here,” technology policy reporter Cat Zakrzewski replied.
Republicans have made railing against “cancel culture” a significant part of their platform on social issues, claiming that society at large is hostile to their ideas and trying to banish them simply because they’re conservative. They believe that they are the real victims.
They often make these claims that they are being silenced from their prominent positions in government, at think tanks, in academia and in the media.
Indeed, on Tuesday, one of the nation’s most prominent newspapers gave Hawley ― a man who cheered on the mob that attacked that U.S. Capitol ― 30 minutes to promote his new book on taking on Big Tech and to share his ideas about political issues.
In other words, plenty of talking and not much canceling, despite some questions on social media about why the Post was giving Hawley him so much attention.
Zakrzewski did ask Hawley about his now-infamous gesture on Jan. 6, when he raised a fist and gave a thumbs-up to a crowd of Donald Trump supporters who were at the Capitol to object to the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the presidential election.
Hawley said he has no regrets about what he did because he doesn’t “know which of those protesters ... participated in the criminal riot” and maintained that “the overwhelming majority ... were peaceful.”
After the Capitol riot, Hawley leveraged all the attention he was receiving into a windfall for his campaign. He brought in more than $3 million in the first three months of 2021, more than any other quarter since he ran for the Senate.
More recently, Hawley was the only senator to vote against legislation aimed at combating hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.