Things have gone from "bad to worse" for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), whose devotion to President Trump wavered not at all after the deadly Capitol riot that the president incited last week, according to an analysis from TheWashington Post.. But then Hawley incited the violent mob, too.
Along with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and a handful of other Senate Republicans, Hawley voted against certifying the electoral votes that officially confirmed Joe Biden as the next President of the United States. At the time, Hawley's backing of the now twice-impeached president was seen as a sound political move for the little known freshman who is trying to pose as a serious 2024 presidential candidate. But now that Hawley has encountered a chorus of demands that he be removed from office, according to the Post, his ambitious plan appears to be sinking under .its own weight.
"Two new polls bolster that what may have seemed at the time like a sound political move — however craven — has earned Hawley few friends and many more enemies," explained the Post's Aaron Blake.
Though backing Trump was supposed to give Hawley a national profile, a new Economist/YouGov poll shows that he is still relatively unknown among American voters. "Hawley is still unfamiliar to many Americans, but among those who do have an opinion of him, it's 2-to-1 negative," noted Blake. "Thirty-five percent view him unfavorably, compared with 17 percent favorably."
According to the Post, an Ipsos poll commissioned by Axios revealed similar unflattering results.
"When people were asked whether they approved of the "recent behavior" of Hawley and other political figures, 68 percent disapproved, while just 24 percent approved," Blake wrote. "The Ipsos poll, in fact, shows that even Republicans are about evenly split on Hawley's recent behavior, with 49 percent disapproving and 46 percent approving."
Blake also points out that:
The YouGov poll is somewhat better for him, with 30 percent of Republicans having a favorable opinion of him and 16 percent having an unfavorable one.
But even in that survey, he doesn't seem to have won over many people. Just 21 percent of Republicans have a "very favorable" opinion of him. He seems to have done much more to alienate the other side, with 54 percent of Democrats having a "very unfavorable" opinion of him.
Hawley defying his oath of office by trying to undermine our democratic process has hurt him in more than just polls.
"Many Senators now despise him, the public saw a craven opportunist giving the mob a clenched-fist salute, his top sponsor [former Senator] Jack Danforth denounced him & a publisher canceled his book," tweeted Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics.
On Saturday, Loews Hotels canceled a planned Hawley fundraiser at its Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, reported the Orlando Sentinel.
"We are horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited the actions," Loews said in a statement on Twitter. "In light of those events and for the safety of our guests and team members, we have informed the host of the Feb. fundraiser that it will no longer be held at Loews Hotels."
Back in Hawley's home state, The Kansas City Star also called for the Senator to be removed from office in a powerful rebuke of his misconduct:
No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday's coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway.
This, Sen. Hawley, is what law-breaking and destruction look like. This is not a protest, but a riot. One woman who was apparently part of the pro-Trump mob was fatally shot by Capitol Police as lawmakers took cover. Some of those whose actions Trump encouraged and later condoned brought along their Confederate flags.
And no longer can it be asked, as George Will did recently of Hawley, "Has there ever been such a high ratio of ambition to accomplishment?" Hawley's actions in the last week had such impact that he deserves an impressive share of the blame for the blood that's been shed.
And there was yet more ominous news for Hawley from the nation's most ferocious Never Trump outfit. Now that the president is almost departed, the Lincoln Project has labeled Hawley as its "public enemy No. 1," according to a tweet from Kyle Griffin, senior producer of MSNBC'S The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.
