On Thursday evening, the Jan. 6 committee played stunning footage of Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) running away from a mob of pro-Trump vigilantes that he was seen riling up just hours earlier.
Despite the clip clearly showing the Republican lawmaker on the run, nearly 24 hours later, he pledged to a group of young conservative activists that he would not “run” away from a battle.
“Hey, listen, I know what I’m talking about because I had them do it to me,” he proudly declared at Turning Point USA’s summer conference in Tampa, Florida, on Friday evening, referring to being called a “traitor” over pushing for “election integrity.” “I objected on Jan 6 last year to the state of Pennsylvania,” he boasted.
“And I just want to say to all of those liberals out there and the liberal media, just in case you haven’t gotten the message yet, I do not regret it,” Hawley continued. “And I am not backing down. I’m not gonna apologize, I’m not gonna cower, I’m not gonna run from you.”
“I’m not gonna bend the knee,” he concluded.
The remarks come as both Hawley and former President Donald Trump attempt to push back on the bombshell Jan. 6 hearing.
Late Thursday night, Trump had a late-night meltdown on his social media site, Truth Social.
“I had an election Rigged and Stolen from me, and our Country. The USA is going to Hell,” he fumed after midnight. “Am I supposed to be happy?”
A source close to the ex-president told The Daily Beast during the hearing that Trump has expressed continued frustration at the “one-sided forum,” which gives no opportunity for “cross-examination” or the ability for Trump to “present [his] side.”
“There’s no courtroom in this country where that would be allowed,” the source, who regularly speaks to Trump, said.
