In the wake of pro-Trump insurgents rioting in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, many Republicans who have enabled Donald Trump have been called out by colleagues and the general public. For example, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, both of whom relentlessly backed Trump’s fever dream of overturning the presidential election results, have been called out by those who want accountability for their enabling of Trump’s dangerous sowing of doubts in the fair and credible election. As Daily Kos covered earlier on Thursday, people are calling for Hawley to resign, and, if not, to be expelled from office. The public is also calling for Simon & Schuester, the major publisher with whom he has a forthcoming book, to drop his deal.
Now, former Republican Sen. Jack Danforth of Missouri tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that one of the biggest regrets of his life concerns none other than Hawley. Let’s dig into some of the more powerful moments from the Thursday interview below.
During a phone interview with the local outlet, Danforth, who served in the Senate for about two decades ending in the mid-90s, stated: “Supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life.” Danforth, who supported Hawley in the 2018 Republican primaries, characterized Hawley as once being a “special talent” who is now “doing real harm.” The former senator added that what Hawley is “doing to his party is one thing. What he’s doing to the country is much worse.”
Danforth also described the riot on the Capitol as “awful” and “unimaginable.”
Now, we know that Hawley is just about as pro-Trump as you can get. Interestingly, though Danforth is an old school icon of the Republican Party, he’s been outspoken in his criticisms about Trump’s behavior and words, including in an op-ed breaking down why he doesn’t see Trump as a Republican. He’s also been critical of Hawley’s insistent plan of challenging election results, recently describing it as a “highly destructive attack on our constitutional government.”
