Joshua Hawley is a Fraud

Show-Me a counterfeit.

Missouri is the Show-Me State so let me show you a counterfeit lawmaker. A fake Missourian. A pompous do-nothing. A weak-kneed sycophant. A fleet-footed fraud. Let me introduce you to Missouri Senator Josh Hawley.

Joshua David Hawley is running…again. And no, I don’t mean down the halls of the Capitol after inciting an insurrection. I mean, he’s running for his second term in the Senate, and if you aren’t familiar with this fraud of a man, let me introduce you to the huckster who peddles a specific brand of politics: the cowardly, faux-rural, everyman.

This is Josh Hawley.

He’s a runner. He’s a track star.

*Here is a good primer on Josh, tweeted by former Congressional nominee Lindsey Simmons.

I’m writing on Hawley today because he has been all over Missouri news for the past few days. We voted in the primaries last week and the contenders for Senate are set: Hawley vs Democrat Lucas Kunce.

The ads have already started and it will be a very long few months until election day. I’m already exhausted from the news cycle that hasn’t even ramped up yet, but this race will be harrowing as I will have to see and hear Hawley ads and Hawley lies and Hawley faux-populism and Hawley faux-rural sprinkled with plaid shirts and a flat-bed trailer that he mistakenly labels a “flat-bed truck.” It may not seem like much, but most folks can tell the difference between a truck and a trailer.

You can probably surmise that I am no fan of Hawley and you’d be right. There are so many reasons for me to loathe Joshua that I will to have to condense them to fit in this space.

Let’s talk about the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia.

There’s a thing with state fairs in states like Missouri: we take them seriously. We eat the fried Oreos and ride the janky rides and walk through the animal barns and look at the 4-H exhibits and generally have a good time. Unless it’s campaign season and then the yearly state gem becomes a cesspool of politicians out to talk to every “real” Missourian and get a photo op and generally make a nuisance of themselves.

I get it. I ran for office too, but a little politicking goes a long way. Less is more.

Josh Hawley has been insufferable in claiming he wants to debate Lucas Kunce at the fair. He has accused Kunce of ditching the debate and being too scared to debate, but the State Fair released a statement saying, “There have been recent inquiries about potential political debates at the State Fair. We are unable to accommodate any request for political debates on the fairgrounds during the duration of the Missouri State Fair.”

So, you’d think that would be that, but not in this state and not with this Senator. He tweeted out a photo of a pickup and a flat-bed trailer claiming he was ready to debate outside of the fair, plaid shirt and truck and flags and all. This is the same shtick he presented Claire McCaskill with in 2018. He was a fraud then and he is a fraud now.

He doesn’t want a debate. He wants to appear that he wants a debate. He’s playing the tough guy. The strong man. Two things Hawley is definitely not.

Nice boots, partner.

Josh Hawley has not had an actual residence in Missouri for most of his tenure as Senator. He lives in a million-dollar home in Virginia and has even voted in Missouri using his sister’s address, since he did not live in-state, which sounds like the voter fraud his party rails against, but what do I know?

This son-of-a-banker and Stanford and Yale graduate now claims to own a home in Ozark, Missouri and tries to prove his “rural roots” by coming back to Missouri every few years in a newly purchased plaid shirt with shiny pearl buttons and pair of skinny jeans finished off with a brand new pair of cowboy boots.

I’d suggest a pair of pliers on his belt to enhance his get-up, but I doubt he’d know the use of the tool or where to buy a pair.

Just your regular, everyday Missourian. Not at all a faux resident flying back to play the part of plaid-wearing hayseed for us hicks a few times each election season.

Hoodwinking swindler.

Josh Hawley is a self-described Christian Nationalist. At the National Conservatism conference, Hawley stated, “Some will say now that I am calling America a Christian nation. And so I am,” Hawley told the crowd. “And some will say that I am advocating Christian nationalism. And so I do.”

His brand of Christianity is an insult to actual Christians. His Christian nationalism is fraudulent.

Josh Hawley is a fan and a friend of Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker. After Butker’s infamous speech at Benedictine College, where he informed women graduates that their highest goals should be to become mothers, Hawley tweeted a photo of the two saying he was “Never more proud to call Harrison Butker my friend.”

What? No plaid shirt for the elites, Josh?

In the Benedictine speech, Butker stated,

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,”

Hawley stood for Butker’s remarks and yet supports the career of his wife, Erin Hawley, who also happens to be a Yale Law graduate and who clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and was part of the team who worked to overturn Roe. Hawley is playing up misogyny and firm gender roles for other women while married to a high-powered and highly-networked attorney. Seems like something a complete fraud would do.

Hawley was a proponent of Right to Work legislation in Missouri and now claims to be pro-union. Convenient.

Hawley eliminated the Environmental Division of the Missouri Attorney General’s office after he took it over in 2017, but now claims to demand compensation for the St Louis residents who have been harmed by nuclear contamination. Weird.

But, the worst of Josh’s fraudulent takes is his fake patriotism.

Hawley claims to be a proud American but participated in inciting an insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Hawley makes claims to the flag and to the founders and to the country while he objected to the Electoral College certification. He led the charge against certifying Pennsylvania’s mail-in votes and contested Biden’s 2020 Presidential win. This is the worst sort of fake patriotism. It’s fraudulent.

Josh Hawley does not represent Missouri in the literal or figurative sense. He has no sense of community or place. He lacks the morals and values and good sense bestowed on most in our state.

Josh Hawley is a fraud in every sense of the word.

Run along, Josh. Run along.

~Jess