But Hawley said he had “no regrets” and told CNN: “I was very clear from the start that I was never trying to stop the election.”
Even before January 6, Hawley did not rule out the possibility that Congress could throw away the election results and keep Trump in office. On January 4, Fox News is asked by Hawley: “Are you trying to say that President Trump will be president from January 20?” He replied to anchor Bret Baier: “Well, Bret, it depends on what happens on Wednesday. I mean that’s why we’re having the debate. That’s why we have votes.” Hawley has repeatedly refused to say Congress will not be able to change the results of Biden’s victory.
CNN on Thursday slammed Hawley for the discrepancy between his claim that he never tried to stop the election and his January 4 comment that Trump could still be president, depending on “what happens” on January 6, and his refusal to Excluding Congress can change the outcome. Hawley claims that he persisted to the point that January 6 was the last day of the election process, and claims that his only intention to raise objections sparked the debate over Pennsylvania’s voting system.
“I told (Baier) what I said throughout … For me, January 6 is the end of this process, that is when the votes are counted, certified, and the election winner is officially declared under the Constitution,” Hawley said. assert. “Om, I’m the end of the line.”
Hawley would also not say whether he should answer Baier differently and answer with the accurate assertion: that Biden would be the next president because there was never a chance that Congress would overthrow the result. He said his words would have been distorted no matter what.
“I think the liberal onslaught of lies to distort me and misunderstand and attack me, no matter what I say or what I do, they are going to tell the lies no matter what,” Hawley said as he walked through the halls of the Capitol. “They’re going to say you wanted to reverse the election, they’re going to say you incited violence, which is all lies.”
Hawley’s objection on Jan. 6 was important because Congress can cast ballots if at least one member of the House and one senator object to the results of a state, followed by majority votes in both chambers. With wide dual majorities opposing efforts in Congress to reject any state’s election results, Hawley’s move would likely fail.
But after becoming the first senator to announce that he would object, Hawley effectively gave hope to pro-Trump activists and ardent supporters that the defeated GOP president could still hold power, a far-fetched idea that the then actively promoted president.
Hawley insisted Thursday that he was merely trying to spark a debate about “wrongdoing” in Pennsylvania – and not change the outcome.
“It’s crystal clear what my intention was and what I was hoping for was to draw attention to what was happening in Pennsylvania and other irregularities and to try to force a congressional action, a little debate,” Hawley said. “For that reason, I objected to the state, and it was I who represented my constituents.”
In his announcement on Dec. 30 that he would object to the election results, Hawley did not say his goal was to stop the election. But he also did not say that his effort would not change the victory of Biden’s Electoral College.
This time, Trump ran a month-long campaign to discredit the election, repeating lies and conspiracies that the election was “knee-jerk” and “stolen” as he promoted the January 6 rally before the congressional session. to vote the results – all of which the day led to the deadly riot in the Capitol.
Asked if his actions perpetuated the lie that the election had been stolen, Hawley pushed back.
“I’ve never used that rhetoric and I was very clear why I objected to it and what I did,” Hawley said. “So, absolutely not.”
Hawley, who is regularly seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2024, maintains that ‘I’m not going’ to run in the next presidential election. And faces an ethical complaint from the Senate, Hawley says he has not yet heard from the committee’s investigators (he filed a lawsuit this week against the Democrats, accusing him of abusing the process). to target him unfairly).
Last week, Hawley called Trump’s remarks on Jan. 6 about the rally “inflammatory. I think it was irresponsible. I think it was wrong.” And after the rioters looted the Capitol, he condemned the violence and insurgents as he condemned in the halls of Congress the right way to tackle a challenge.
Despite pleas from his colleagues to drop his objection and show unity after the deadly hooliganism, Hawley still objected to the Pennsylvania results, which failed overwhelmingly in the Senate, 7-92. Hawley also voted for Cruz’s challenge to the Arizona results, an attempt that was rejected by a 6-93 vote.
“It’s not about messages,” Hawley said when asked if he should have changed his own rhetoric before January 6. ‘It’s an attempt to silence political opponents. It is a hard work to close the democratic debate. “
CNN’s Aaron Pellish and Marshall Cohen contributed to this report.