Josh Hawley Defends Selling Merch of His Fist-Pump Salute to Jan. 6 Rioters: It’s ‘Not A Pro-Riot Mug’
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Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) insists he’s not sending a pro-riot message, despite his campaign office selling merchandise featuring an image of himself cheering on the crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.
Hawley’s campaign recently commenced a new fundraising gimmick by selling mugs of his infamous fist-pump to former President Donald Trump supporters on January 6th. The salute came shortly before Hawley’s attempt to challenge Congress’ certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory, and also just before Trump’s supporters violently laid siege to Congress after being fueled by Trump’s “stolen” election lies.
The mug is selling for $20, and Hawley’s campaign promoted it in an email mocking the senator’s “triggered” liberal critics.
New: Josh Hawley is officially selling his 1/6 fist-pump as a mug pic.twitter.com/sNzCbaam1B
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) February 14, 2022
Since the riot, Hawley has defended his election objections, claimed to be a victim of cancel culture, and called it a “slur” to say every January 6th demonstrator was involved in the Capitol riot. HuffPost asked Hawley to explain himself in an interview, and he claimed “It is not a pro-riot mug. This was not me encouraging rioters.”
“At the time that we were out there, folks were gathered peacefully to protest, and they have a right to do that,” Hawley continued. “They do not have a right to assault cops.”
Hawley went on to acknowledge “some” people in the crowd were involved in the violence of January 6th, though he largely stuck to his point that most of the demonstrators weren’t part of it, and they shouldn’t be treated as if they were.
“They’ve been treated as if, if you were here, if you were in Washington, if you went to the Capitol, ‘You’re a thug. You’re a criminal.’ I disagree with that really strongly,” he said.
