The publication of a book written by Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, the first GOP senator to join a Republican movement to block the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the Electoral College, was canceled Thursday by publishing company Simon & Schuster. In response, Hawley said he intended to file a lawsuit against the publishing house.
Hawley's support of President Donald Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud drew criticism from both sides of the aisle. Some observers have alleged that Hawley was partly to blame for violent riots conducted by Trump supporters that engulfed the U.S. Capitol building on Wednesday, interrupting the Congressional count of the electoral votes.
While some Republicans recanted their stated intent to object to the vote when Congress reconvened after the riot, Hawley chose to continue challenging Biden's victory. Simon & Schuster said it "cannot support Senator Hawley" in the aftermath of the riot.
"After witnessing the disturbing, deadly insurrection that took place on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Simon & Schuster has decided to cancel publication of Senator Josh Hawley's forthcoming book, THE TYRANNY OF BIG TECH," Simon & Schuster said in a Thursday statement.
"We did not come to this decision lightly," the statement continued. "As a publisher, it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoint: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom."
Hawley's book is described on Simon & Schuster's website as a "revelatory glance at our current policies and how they are failing most Americans every day."
When contacted for comment, Hawley's office referred Newsweek to a post on Hawley's Twitter feed.
"This could not be more Orwellian," Hawley wrote Thursday. "Simon & Schuster is canceling my contract because I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to redefine as sedition. Let me be clear, this is not just a contract dispute. It's a direct assault on the First Amendment. Only approved speech can now be published. This is the Left looking to cancel everyone they don't approve of. I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We'll see you in court."
My statement on the woke mob at @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/pDxtZvz5J0
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 7, 2021
In December, Hawley said that his objection to Biden's certification was directed towards the lack of investigations into the voter fraud alleged by Trump.
"At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections," Hawley said in a statement. "But Congress has so far failed to act."
Many have blamed the Capitol Riots on Trump's unsubstantiated claims of election manipulation to which many of his supporters have adhered. Hawley's cooperation with Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the presidential election caused some critics to consider him complicit in the genesis of Wednesday's riot.
The editorial board of one of Missouri's largest newspapers, the Kansas City Star, said in a Wednesday article that "Hawley's actions in the last week had such an impact that he deserves an impressive share of the blame for the blood that's been shed."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
