Video shows why the Jan. 6 Josh Hawley incident is more than just a fleeing senator
The Missouri Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley who displayed unity with the Trump supporters on the Jan.6 Capitol attack fled the scene of the riot. The Jan. 6 committee presented the video on Thursday night in a televised hearing. These hearings haven’t provided the viewers with any meme-able discussion until they showed this video.
Although it wasn’t much of comic relief to the serious and intense Capitol attack hearing, social media is abuzz. Seeing how Sen. Hawley sprinted from the rioters, everyone who watched it has some serious reactions. Before fleeing the scene, Sen. Hawley cheered the Trump crowd with his infamous fist pump.
As presented in the video, Sen. Hawley was running through a hallway and hurrying down the escalator. It took him a few strides to reach his safety. Aside from the committee presenting the video, the other audiences present also burst into laughter.
Remember: Even after running for his life, Sen. Hawley chose to fundraise off his encouraging and fist-pumping the violent mob, and even sold merchandise of himself doing so from then through *this year* – even after Politico, who later acquired the image, sent a cease and desist https://t.co/eNU8iIqbxl
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 22, 2022
The smart internet users were quick in response to the circulating videos. Some even set it to a variety of songs. They edited the video with the popular Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Another song is the Benny Hill theme, “Sir Robin Theme” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. One funny song they also incorporated is the Looney Tunes’ outro music, “That’s All Folks.”
A Democratic member of the Jan.6 committee, Rep. Elaine Luria discussed the panel interviews with law enforcement. She described how Hawley’s fist pump to the crowd “riled up the crowd.” Which made it harder for the officers to protect the complex from the pro-Trump crowd.
Capitol Attack Events
A few minutes after Hawley signaled his gesture, the Trump mob breached the east side of the Capitol. Luria added this to her statement. “Later that day, Sen. Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol.” She also added that many people who had seen Hawley saluted joined the crowd.
Rep. Luria explains how Senator Hawley pumped his fist to the rioters, riling up the crowd, according to a Capitol police officer. Luria then showed video of Hawley fleeing the scene from the mob inside the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/Rbg8WPBZtQ
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 22, 2022
Luria also presented Hawley’s photo earlier that day of the Capitol attack. Hawley’s fearful appearance while fleeing was counteracting the swaggering pose ha had in the photo. While Hawley also feared for his safety, he continued to show his support to the rioters through his gesture.
Hawley told the Washington Post months after Jan.6, “I waved to them, gave them the thumbs up, pumped up my fist to them, and thanked them for being there. They had every right to do that.”
Republican allies
Similar to his Republican colleagues, Hawley set himself in support of the rioters. For a while, it became a popular position among the GOP months after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Hawley also told The Post, “I don’t know which of those protesters, if any of them, those demonstrators, participated in the criminal riot. And I think it’s a slur on the thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of people who came to the Capitol that day to demonstrate peacefully to lump them in with the criminal rioters and say, ‘Oh, you’re all basically the same.”
Run Hawley Run
— Dan Rather (@DanRather) July 22, 2022
Moreover, there are different and mixed reactions outside the hearing room after seeing the footage. Washington D.C. police officer Michael Fanone who was assaulted during the Capitol attack labeled Hawley a “bitch” for running away.
He added, “And the fist pump, combined with what he did in the immediate aftermath, just shows the true character or lack thereof. You see the way these guys perform in public and then what they are in reality. You get a lot of that nonsense up here on Capitol Hill with these members of Congress that have become like a caricature in the media. But in reality, they have no character. They have no honor and integrity. And the way they behave outside of the camera’s eye is very different.”
On Thursday, the hearing was televised for 187 minutes on primetime. It showed a timeline between the end of Trump’s speech to when he posted a video telling the rioters to “go home.” The Capitol attack took place during those times. The committee also showed parts of the Trump speech. He said, “I don’t want to say the election is over.” This remarkable outtake also shows Trump as he stops and tells aides off-camera.
