Jeff Danziger lives in New York City. He is represented by CWS Syndicate and the Washington Post Writers Group. He is the recipient of the Herblock Prize and the Thomas Nast (Landau) Prize. He served in the US Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. He has published eleven books of cartoons and one novel. Visit him at DanzigerCartoons.com.
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Sen. Josh Hawley
Screenshot from Sen. Josh Hawley's website (joshhawley.com)
Reprinted with permission from American Independent
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has lost the support of another prominent GOP megadonor over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
<p>"Sometimes politicians deceive their donors," billionaire Jeffrey Yass recently wrote in an email, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/18/josh-hawley-billionaire-deceived-election-objections-capitol-attack" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published</a> by the Guardian on Monday, explaining his disappointment in Hawley's actions. Yass, co-founder of trading firm Susquehanna International Group, has donated <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/search?order=desc&q=jeff+yass&sort=A&type=donors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tens of millions</a> to the right-wing Club for Growth, which <a href="https://www.clubforgrowth.org/club-for-growth-pac-congratulates-josh-hawley/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spent millions</a> of dollars on Hawley's 2018 victory.</p><p>A Hawley spokesperson did not immediately respond to an inquiry for this story.</p><p>Former supporters and media outlets have <a href="https://americanindependent.com/senator-josh-hawley-riot-insurrection-sedition-us-capitol/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">urging</a> significant punishments for the first-term Republican senator after he helped spread false claims about the 2020 election, cheered on violent insurrectionists not long before they mounted a deadly attempted coup, and voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election.</p><script id="3d14008d7e044c36b256c61ff82728bb">
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</script><p>Since Election Day, Hawley <a href="https://americanindependent.com/missouri-senator-josh-hawley-republican-senate-homeland-security-hearing-voter-irregularities/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">elevated</a> debunked conspiracy theories suggesting that Donald Trump — not President-elect Joe Biden — was the real victor.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_2" data-aaad="true"></div>
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<div id="vid"></div><p>He was the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/us/politics/josh-hawley-trump-election-challenge.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first senator</a> to say he would <a href="https://americanindependent.com/gop-senator-josh-hawley-missouri-overturn-election-electoral-college-vote-donald-trump-twitter-facebook/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">object</a> to certifying the Electoral College results.</p><p>"Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard," he <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1344307458085412867" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tweeted</a> on Dec. 30. "I will object on January 6 on their behalf."</p><p>As pro-Trump extremists gathered outside the Capitol prior to the joint session of Congress, Hawley <a href="https://apnews.com/article/josh-hawley-electoral-college-capitol-6c7aa5820b31404f528025f12105a600" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">greeted</a> them with a fist pump and a thumbs up.</p><p>Another disappointed top GOP donor, roofing magnate David Humphreys, <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2021/01/07/major-josh-hawley-donor-calls-for-him-to-be-censured-by-the-u-s-senate/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> the Missouri Independent earlier this month that he now believes Hawley to be a "political opportunist" who provoked the riots through "irresponsible, inflammatory, and dangerous tactics" and should be censured by his colleagues.</p><p>Humphreys gave millions to Hawley's campaign for Missouri attorney general in 2016 and backed him in his 2018 Senate race by more than <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/hawley-vs-mccaskill-a-sideshow-battle-of-billionaire-donors/article_23474f18-65eb-5ef7-945c-ceb28eddca5d.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$2 million</a> in donations through outside political committees.</p><div class="inarticle_ad_placeholder" data-aa-adunit="/5931858/NatMemo_RM/NatMemo_Middle_Desktop_3" data-aaad="true"></div><p>Cerner, a Missouri-based health information technology company, <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/kansas-city-based-cerner-corp-suspends-donations-to-josh-hawley-and-others-who-incited-violence/article_3ae5a20f-6550-58f3-bbe7-f293035ab1da.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> the Kansas City Star last week, that its PAC would suspend donations to Hawley and other GOP lawmakers who "took part in or incited violence." The political action committee has previously given at least $10,000 to Hawley's leadership PAC.</p><p>Hawley's mentor, former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO), also denounced his former protégé.</p><p>"Supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life," he <a href="https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/tony-messenger/messenger-danforth-calls-his-support-of-hawley-the-worst-mistake-of-his-life/article_0f8288fc-4b22-5fe7-8cb9-d29161a7cf81.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told</a> the St. Louis Post-Dispatch after the riots. "Yesterday was the physical culmination of the long attempt [by Hawley and others] to foment a lack of public confidence in our democratic system. It is very dangerous to America to continue pushing this idea that government doesn't work and that voting was fraudulent."</p><p>Hawley is not the only Republican facing significant blowback for trying to overturn the election results.</p><p>Former Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA), the former mentor of current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, <a href="https://www.bakersfield.com/news/in-interview-retired-congressman-bill-thomas-knocks-mccarthy-for-supporting-lies/article_a215a0d6-57aa-11eb-8f10-5bd247ddd73e.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">called</a> out his one-time employee on Friday for backing Trump's "phony lies" about the election.</p><p>Dozens of major corporations have <a href="https://popular.info/p/where-things-stand" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">announced</a> that they are suspending PAC donations to Republicans who voted to object to Biden's electors being counted, according to a round-up by Popular Information. And more than a dozen newspaper editorial boards around the country have <a href="https://americanindependent.com/editorial-boards-resign-expel-gop-lawmakers-us-capitol-insurrection/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">urged</a> those who stoked the insurrection be expelled from Congress.</p><p><em>Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.</em></p>
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