Josh Hawley Says ‘Democrats Don’t Accept Elections That They Don’t Win’
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) appeared on Fox News Thursday night and declared that Democrats do not accept election results when they lose.
Hawley, of course, was one of the Republican lawmakers who, on Jan. 6 2021, objected to the certification of Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Earlier that morning, Hawley infamously raised a fist in the direction of Trump supporters protesting the results of the election. Some protestors would later storm the Capitol, disrupting the certification for several hours.
During a segment on Primetime, guest host Pete Hegseth noted Biden’s comments in a presser on Wednesday in which the president suggested the upcoming midterms – in which Democrats are expected to do poorly – might not be legitimate if his party’s voting rights bill isn’t passed.
Hegseth also played clips of Democrats in previous election years questioning the results. The host asked Hawley for his reaction.
“Well, what I heard was what Joe Biden said loud and clear, which is he’s already making excuses for why he’s going to lose in November,” Hawley replied.
He elaborated:
That’s what this is all about. Democrats don’t accept elections that they don’t win. I mean it happened in 2000, it happened in 2004, it happened in 2016. Now it’s going to be 2022. If Joe Biden thought that his party was going to win these elections, then all would be fine. But he thinks – and because the polls suggest – he’s going to lose them. His party’s going to lose them – the House and the Senate – and therefore they’re illegitimate. I mean it’s dangerous, it’s wrong, it’s ridiculous.
Of course, the elephant in the room went completed undiscussed, i.e., the fact that the leader of Hawley’s party has been falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged against him. Donald Trump had even said during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns that if he lost, the election will have been stolen.
Moreover, most House Republicans voted not to certify Biden as the winner, along with eight GOP senators, including Hawley. Additionally, 71% of Republicans believe Biden did not win legitimately because Trump has relentlessly pushed the conspiracy theory.
On top of this, Trump has targeted Republican politicians who refuse to go along with his election lie. He has endorsed the primary challengers of GOP officials who signed off on the 2020 election results in their respective states, including Gov. Doug Ducey (AZ), Gov. Brian Kemp (GA), and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (GA).
In short, the role the 2020 election lie plays in Republican politics is unprecedented.
“Our democracy is strong,” concluded Hawley. “[T]he American people are strong and in charge, and their votes are the ones that count. Their voices are the ones that matter. And to try to delegitimize those ahead of time, to try to say that whatever decision the American people come to in November is illegitimate because you don’t think you’re going to like the outcome of it, boy, that is playing with fire. And that’s exactly what the Democrats are doing.”
Watch above via Fox News.
