Josh Hawley's mentor regrets supporting him, calling it the 'worst mistake I ever made'
John Danforth, one of the biggest names in the Missouri Republican Party, now says he wishes he never mentored Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).
Danforth served in the Senate from 1976 to 1995, and in an interview Thursday with St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Tony Messenger, he said seeing supporters of President Trump break into the Capitol on Wednesday was "awful. It was unimaginable."
The rioters, repeating the false claim that the election had been stolen from Trump, arrived as lawmakers were recording the Electoral College votes. Hawley was the first senator to say he would object to the votes, legitimizing the unfounded conspiracies that the election was rigged. Danforth said Hawley told him constituents had been questioning the results, and "my thought when he said that was, 'Josh, what did you say in response? Did you push back at all?'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There have long been rumblings that Hawley wants to run for president in the near future, and he needs to have the support of constituents who not only will vote for him, but will also send money to his campaign. That's dangerous, Danforth said. "This guy is doing real harm," he told Messenger. "What he's doing to his party is one thing. What he's doing to the country is much worse."
Hawley isn't the "special talent" he thought he was, Danforth lamented, adding that "supporting Josh and trying so hard to get him elected to the Senate was the worst mistake I ever made in my life. Yesterday was the physical culmination of the long attempt 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."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
The UK-made Storm Shadow missiles Ukraine is using in RussiaThe Explainer Ukraine reportedly deployed the long-range British missiles this week, following a tense meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump
-
Dry skin, begone! 8 products to keep your skin supple while travelingThe Week Recommends Say goodbye to dry and hello to hydration
-
Crossword: October 23, 2025The Week's daily crossword
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
-
Trump begins East Wing demolition for ballroomspeed read The president’s new construction will cost $250 million
-
Appeals court clears Trump’s Portland troop deploymentSpeed Read A divided federal appeals court ruled that President Trump can send the National Guard to Portland
-
Millions turn out for anti-Trump ‘No Kings’ ralliesSpeed Read An estimated 7 million people participated, 2 million more than at the first ‘No Kings’ protest in June
-
DOJ indicts John Bolton over classified filesSpeed Read Continuing the trend of going after his political enemies, Trump prosecutes his former national security adviser
-
Trump, Putin set summit as Zelenskyy lands in DCSpeed Read Trump and Putin have agreed to meet in Budapest soon to discuss ending the war in Ukraine
-
Courts deal setbacks to Trump’s Chicago operationsSpeed Read President Donald Trump cannot deploy the National Guard in Illinois
