Sen. Josh Hawley.
Evelyn Hockstein/Pool via AP
Sen. Josh Hawley thinks the “old” GOP is dead. “Time to bury it. Build something new,” Hawley tweeted on Saturday.The Missouri senator blamed the GOP’s leaders for the party’s lackluster midterm performance.
On Saturday, Sen. Josh Hawley said the “old” Republican Party is gone and needs to be rebuilt.
“The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new,” Hawley wrote on Twitter.
Hawley’s tweet came minutes after Nevada Democratic Senate candidate Catherine Cortez Masto beat her Trump-backed opponent, Adam Laxalt, securing control of the upper chamber for the Democrats.
The old party is dead. Time to bury it. Build something new
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) November 13, 2022
It wasn’t the Missouri senator’s first disparaging comment about his own party. On Thursday, he tweeted that “Washington Republicanism lost big” in the midterms, with the GOP making missteps on policies like gun control and Social Security.
“What are Republicans actually going to do for working people? How about, to start: tougher tariffs on China, reshore American jobs, open up American energy full throttle, 100k new cops on the street. Unrig the system,” he wrote on Twitter.
Hawley also tweeted Thursday that Republicans need to “offer an actual agenda” if they want to win.
It’s not clear who exactly Hawley sees as part of “the old party,” but he’s a strong backer of Trump, and he has made it clear that he doesn’t side with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
In an interview with Real Clear Politics on Friday, Hawley said the GOP leadership was responsible for the party’s midterm failures. He singled out McConnell, saying he would not vote for the Kentucky senator to be the GOP leader regardless of which party wins the Senate. Representatives for McConnell did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
McConnell could now be facing a challenge to his leadership position, including from Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the chairman of the GOP’s campaign arm, per CNN. Trump, too, is calling on political allies to oust McConnell and is condemning him for the GOP’s disappointing midterm results, per CNN.
Hawley currently serves on four Senate committees, including panels on the judiciary, armed services, homeland security and governmental affairs, and small business and entrepreneurship. He famously raised his fist in support of pro-Trump protesters at the Capitol during the January 6 riot. He was also the first senator to publicly break ranks with McConnell back in 2020 when he announced his plan to object to the 2020 election results, according to NPR.
Hawley is, per Politico, in the process of forging his own path in the Senate with other Trump Republicans. During the midterms, he backed JD Vance, a fellow Trump-backed Ohio Senate candidate who won his race in November.
Hawley also supported Blake Masters in Arizona. Democratic candidate Mark Kelly defeated Masters, handing the Republicans a crucial loss and helping the Democratic Party retain its majority in the upper chamber.