Hawley: Time for ‘Washington Republicanism’ to Come to an End – ‘I Will Not Support Mitch McConnell for Leader’

Monday on FNC’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) criticized Republican Party leadership on the heels of the GOP’s disappointing performance in last week’s midterm elections.

Hawley called for the era of “Washington Republicanism” to end.

“Well, we need good strong independent leadership that actually listens to voters and doesn’t just listen to the Washington lobbyists,” Hawley said. “I’ll just tell you when it comes to the GOP, the Washington Republicanism that cares more about Wall Street than it does about working people, it’s time for that to come to an end — the Washington Republicanism that’s all about adventures abroad, the neo-conservatism of these global wars not focused on working people of this country. It needs to come to an end. I think what voters are asking us to do is pretty clear – secure our streets. You know, let’s put new cops on the street, 100,000 of them. Secure our borders. Stop the indoctrination of our children. And bring jobs back to our country. It used to be you could support a family on one good wage. You can’t do that anymore in this country because of the ruinous trade policies, unfortunately, both parties have supported. That has got to come to an end. Republicans have got to become the party of working people and working-class culture. That’s what we’re fighting for.”

The Missouri Republican reiterated his pledge not to support Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for caucus leader.

“If you look at who didn’t show up, Tulsi, you’ve got independents that don’t like Joe Biden, and they voted for President Obama back in the day, they voted for President Trump. But they looked at the options this year and went, ‘Eh, I don’t like Biden at all, and I don’t like the Democrats, but I don’t trust the Republicans.’ Why? Because the Republicans weren’t offering anything. They weren’t saying we’re going to secure the border. They weren’t saying we’re going to put cops on the street. We’ve got to go out there and make that case. We need leadership in the Republican Party in Washington. This is why I will not support Mitch McConnell for leader. We need new leadership, but we also need real convictions. That’s what we have to be about going forward. ”

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