'Fist Pumper to Fleeing Coward': Paper in Josh Hawley's Home State Calls Senator 'Laughingstock' in Op-Ed

Video of Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley fleeing rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has inspired a scathing op-ed in The Kansas City Star, a newspaper based in his state.

"Josh Hawley is a laughingstock," reads the first line of the editorial board–authored piece, which is headlined: "Fist pumper to fleeing coward: Jan. 6 video shows Missouri who Josh Hawley really is."

A photo of Hawley walking into a joint session of Congress on the day of the riot shows him holding up a clenched fist in apparent solidarity with Donald Trump supporters, who later breached the Capitol in what Jan. 6 investigators have said was a violent coup intended to halt the counting of electoral votes in the 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden won.

On Thursday, Rep. Elaine Luria said Jan. 6 investigators "spoke with a Capitol Police officer who was out there at that time" the photo was taken.

"She told us that Senator Hawley's gesture riled up the crowd, and it bothered her greatly because he was doing it in a safe space, protected by the officers and the barriers," Luria said during the latest televised hearing of the committee, which has been presenting evidence to the American people throughout the summer.

RELATED: 'I Don't Want to Say the Election's Over': Unseen Footage of Trump on Jan. 6 Revealed at Hearing

The Independent Josh Hawley Running From the Capitol

She then introduced security footage in which Hawley could be seen running out of the building hours after the fist-pump photo was taken.

"Senator Hawley fled after those protesters he helped to rile up stormed the Capitol," she said. "See for yourself."

RELATED: Footage Shows Josh Hawley Running from the Capitol as Trump Supporters Descended on the Building

The footage elicited laughter from many gathered at the hearing, according to those in attendance.

Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Sen. Josh Hawley

The Kansas City Star's editorial board said the footage "will surely follow him the rest of his life."

RELATED: Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley Called 'Transphobic' by Law Professor in Heated Senate Hearing

Hawley, the former attorney general of Missouri, was one of the Republicans who objected to the certification of then President-elect Biden's election victory, touting unfounded claims of voter fraud. The riot ultimately disrupted the Senate's process to certify the election results, and led to multiple deaths, including a Capitol Police officer.

"Beyond the physical toll," writes the editorial board, "is the damage Jan. 6 continues to inflict on our democracy and our shared sense of truth."

RELATED: ​​White House Accuses Sen. Josh Hawley of 'Parroting' Russia After He Questions Ukraine Strategy

"Hawley has never apologized for attempting to reinstall a man who everyone around him knew had lost the election, as witness testimony continues to confirm," the op-ed reads. "Surely the Yale and Stanford grad isn't gullible enough to believe the craven lies about tampering with voting machines and dead people casting ballots that ooze through social media."

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"Saluting the Trump posse was politically expeditious for him before the siege began," the board writes about Hawley. "Yet once he realized his own safety was in real danger from the angry revolutionists swarming the building, he hotfooted it away from 'his' people to the protection of the security forces charged with protecting him. Where's that fist in the air now?"