Mitt Romney reportedly accosted Josh Hawley over the Capitol riot: 'You have caused this'
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Sen. Romney reportedly exploded at Sen. Josh Hawley over the January 6 Capitol insurrection.
According to The Washington Post, Romney told Hawley: "You have caused this!"
Hawley has been heavily criticized for raising objections to Biden's electoral votes.
Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah exploded at Sen. Josh Hawley over the January 6 Capitol insurrection, The Washington Post reported. He's said to have told Hawley, "You have caused this!"
The Post, citing sources familiar with the exchange, reported on the Romney-Hawley confrontation in a lengthy profile of the Missouri senator published on Monday.
The newspaper said that as senators were rushed out of the Capitol and into a secure location, "Hawley remained combative in pushing the very falsehoods that had helped stoke the violence," which prompted Romney's rebuke.
The normally mild-mannered and affable Romney also shouted "this is what you've gotten" at his Republican colleagues during the chaos of the siege on the Capitol, The New York Times reported.
Hawley generated significant controversy with his plan to sign on to an official objection to Congress counting Pennsylvania's 20 Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden. He followed through with this move when senators were able to return to the Capitol after it had been secured by law enforcement.
Under the parameters of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, each chamber must split up to debate an Electoral College objection for a maximum of two hours. This meant that Congress debated the Pennsylvania objection into the wee hours of January 7 after being able to return to the Capitol. Hawley specifically took issue with a law passed by the state's GOP-controlled Legislature that allowed people to vote by mail without an excuse.
The Missouri senator has condemned the riot at the Capitol and distanced himself from the insurrectionists' actions on multiple occasions. But critics say Hawley casting doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election elevated the baseless claims of voter fraud that led to the insurrection.
Hawley's actions around the riots led to some of his most prominent mentors, including former Sen. John Danforth of Missouri, publicly disavowing him and saying that they regretted their roles in his political rise. Another one of Hawley's Republican colleagues, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said bringing the objections was "a really dumbass idea."
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