“This is just trolling”: Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley reacts to January 6 hearing showcasing video of him

WASHINGTON D.C. (KY3) - Missouri’s junior U.S. Senator Josh Hawley made national headlines during the House Select Committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6th insurrection.

Sen. Hawley has long been embroiled in the events of that day after a photo of him was published, showing him fist-pumping the rioters in apparent support.

Last Thursday, during the House Committees’ primetime hearing, they showed video from inside the Capitol on the day of the insurrection, showing Hawley running through the corridors. The committee showed the video, they said, to demonstrate that Sen. Hawley was running from the same rioters he helped rile up.

It has since been widely mocked online but Sen. Hawley says he has no regrets about his actions that day.

”This is just all just trolling is what that is,” said Hawley. “Everybody left at the same time altogether, and I don’t regret any of it. You’re not going to get me to say, and the committee is not going to get me to say, oh, you know, I’m so sorry. I apologize to you. Not gonna happen. I do not regret it, and they can attack me; it’s kind of a privilege, frankly, to be attacked.”

The committee also spoke to a Capitol police officer there on the day of the insurrection. That officer said she was bothered by Sen. Hawley’s fist-pump because it riled up the crowd, yet he was behind the safety of security officers.

“I can’t say that I saw her testimony because, as I’ve said before, I have not watched. This is still true, I have not watched a single solitary minute of any of the hearings, and I don’t intend to,” said Hawley. “I will just say, on the substance of my fist pump, everybody’s seen that picture. I will say now, as I’ve said, for the last year, that I do not regret it. It was done to a crowd that was standing there peacefully, and they had every right to be there. Nobody has a right to riot. So for those who later went on to riot, those folks who did that broke the law and deserve to be imprisoned.”

We reached out to the Greene County Democrats for their response to the video, they sent us this statement:

“Senator Hawley wanted to be seen as strong, with his fist raised to the mob, against our legitimate election and peaceful transfer of power. What the nation got to see in the video was part two, the part where the mob he encouraged broke into our Capitol, and he ran. He has since doubled down by marketing himself as raised fist guy, so if you’re going to do that, you have to own the part where not long after, you were also the running guy.”

Sen. Hawley was just in Kansas City, on the campaign trail for Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, who is running for Roy Blunt’s Senate seat.

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