Letter to the Editor

Hawley was wrong

Senator Josh Hawley needs to resign from office immediately for his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Despite his ludicrous opinion column attempting to excuse his behavior, Sen. Hawley is held in contempt for the cynical, irresponsible, self-serving and inflammatory manner which he supported the president's baseless claims of election fraud. Whether intended or not, his dangerous statements and actions falsely legitimized violent action by the domestic terrorists who attacked the institution of Congress.

There is one huge difference between now and the elections of 2000, 2004 and 2016 cited by Sen. Hawley -- in none of those races was there a sitting president falsely claiming before the election that the only way he could lose is if the election were stolen and after losing continuing to promote that fallacy while actively fomenting insurrection.

Here are some facts about the Missouri election that can explain Trump's loss. While Republicans swept statewide races, Trump was dead last. Even in down ballot races if one adds up the votes for all eight Republican congressional candidates, they outpaced the president by over 5,000 votes!

Sen. Hawley allowed his voracious appetite for power and self-promotion to overwhelm the good sense he should possess as a United States senator. His dangerous effort to position himself as a political heir to the Trump legacy, and -- incredibly -- to promote his now defunct book deal are extraordinarily shameful.

Senator, you have the blood of patriots on your hands.

ANDY LEIGHTON, Cape Girardeau