Kansas City Star: Sen. Josh Hawley 'has blood on his hands'

In a scathing op-ed, the Kansas City Star editorial board let Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) know that because of his "actions in the last week," he "has blood on his hands" and "deserves an impressive share of the blame" for the violence in the Capitol.

Hawley was the first senator to say he would oppose the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College win, and "that action, motivated by ambition, set off much that followed," the editorial board wrote. "The rush of his fellow presidential aspirant Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and other members of the Sedition Caucus to put a show of loyalty to the president above all else."

As Congress debated the Electoral College results on Wednesday, supporters of President Trump descended, storming the Capitol and causing destruction along the way as they smashed glasses and broke into offices. Hawley — who sent out a fundraising email tied to his objection right before the chaos began — released a brief statement saying "the violence must end." The editorial board mocked him for being "so modest" and "failing to note your key role in inspiring one of the most heartbreaking days in modern American history."

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Trump, the editorial board said, "did not manage this madness on his own" — he was assisted by Republicans like Hawley, who knew there wasn't any election fraud but backed up Trump anyway. The board also had harsh words for citizens who "have excused all of the brazen lawlessness of this administration," saying they "can take a little bit of credit for these events, too. They couldn't have done it without you."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.