Hawley on Electoral College Challenge: ‘My Constituents Expect Me — and They’re Right — to Say I Have a Problem’

Monday on FNC’s “The Story,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) explained his justification for opposing the Electoral College challenge on Wednesday.

Hawley was the first from the U.S. Senate to announce his intentions and said his constituent led him to the decision.

“There’s a statute that says — that governs what Congress does on January 6,” he explained. “And it says that we have a vote of certification and that we have to — we have the opportunity to debate the results, to certify the results, we count them, and then we certify. And my point is, this is my only opportunity during this process to raise an objection and to be heard. I don’t have standing to file lawsuits. I’m not a prosecutor anymore. I used to be, but I’m not anymore. I can’t investigate claims of voter fraud on my own.”

“But I do have a responsibility in this joint session of Congress to either say I have got no problem with it or I do have a problem with it,” Hawley added. “And my constituents expect me — and they’re right — to say I have a problem.”

Hose Bret Baier asked if Hawley had a responsibility to his constituents to concede Biden would be president on January 20.

“[I]’m trying to do something more than just that,” he replied. “I mean, this is about the integrity of our elections. And this is about taking a stand where you can take a stand. I mean, you can — I suppose you can just say, well, listen, nothing I do will matter, it won’t matter if I object or not, so I will just sit by and do nothing. I mean, that’s one approach. But I can tell you that the people of my state, they won’t understand that, and they shouldn’t. They say, you have the opportunity to stand up and be heard and to object. You have the opportunity to try and force change. And you should. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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