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Ahead of the joint congressional session to nationally certify the victory of then-President-elect Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) raised his fist in solidarity with protestors outside the U.S. Capitol who believed then-President Donald Trump's lies that widespread election fraud delivered Biden a false victory.
As history will remember, these protestors became rioters when the mob of pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol, destroying property and facilitating the deaths of at least five people.
Nevertheless, Hawley still objected to the certification of electoral votes in swing states Trump lost.
His amplification of Trump's election lies were largely seen as a contributing factor to the Capitol riots, and it wasn't long before publishing company Simon & Schuster cancelled Hawley's upcoming book.
Hawley used the cancellation to prop up claims that conservative voices are being silenced.
He went on to rail against the "muzzling" of conservatives in an op-ed for the New York Post, one of the largest conservative newspapers in the country.
It's time to stand up against the muzzling of America https://t.co/rrTrtfrYZn via @nypost— Josh Hawley (@Josh Hawley) 1611542111.0
Hawley writes:
"The alliance of leftists and woke capitalists hopes to regulate the innermost thoughts of every American, from school age to retirement. And they've trained enforcers of the woke orthodoxy to monitor dissent or misbehavior."
The irony that Hawley broadcast critiques of the so-called censorship in a paper with over 230 thousand copies in daily circulation was, apparently, lost on him.
The op-ed generated widespread backlash, but one reply stuck out.
Josh, Do you remember when you came to my Yale talk on the history of affirmative action? You disrupted it, aggres… https://t.co/QGBl4phlNJ— Dr. Glenda Gilmore (@Dr. Glenda Gilmore) 1611563449.0
Yale history professor Dr. Glenda Gilmore reminded Hawley of a moment during her lesson on affirmative action, accusing the Senator of disrupting the lesson and holding the conversation hostage before walking out.
People weren't surprised.
Absolutely shocked to discover that Josh Hawley was That Guy in grad school. https://t.co/BnN6G5TXG9— Chad Borkenhagen (@Chad Borkenhagen) 1611603965.0
Leopard don't change his spots, do he? https://t.co/HeWuwmG5Zw— John (@John) 1611578652.0
On brand. https://t.co/JaYDJoH03c— Bonnie Parker (@Bonnie Parker) 1611593472.0
But Dr. Gilmore was far from the only one to counter Hawley's complaints.
You were given prime space to say this in a billionaire-run rag that specifically amplifies right-wing views, part… https://t.co/3W2FPtYuKX— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1611593536.0
You left out the part where you tried to cancel millions of votes. https://t.co/BIYJiqreBw— Patterico (@Patterico) 1611543738.0
He says in a tweet to his half-million followers about an op-ed published in a paper with a quarter-million subscri… https://t.co/hFkPIDltTD— Steve Vladeck (@Steve Vladeck) 1611543473.0
White entitlement is calling consequences “cancel culture.” When you’re used to impunity, accountability feels lik… https://t.co/ceG2qtzmLk— Rev. Jacqui Lewis, PhD (@Rev. Jacqui Lewis, PhD) 1611585469.0
"I'm being muzzled!" he screams in the pages of one of the largest newspapers in the country's biggest media market. https://t.co/Y4JuSt463F— Gary Legum (@Gary Legum) 1611543347.0
A number of Hawley's colleagues in the Senate are urging him to resign.