The Jan. 6 committee held its final hearing of the summer on Thursday night (more are planned for September). Amid further harrowing evidence of how violent the situation inside the Capitol was that day—and how much television Donald Trump watched by himself in a West Wing dining room instead of doing anything about it—there was one nice moment of light-hearted camaraderie and jovial, if momentary, decompression. A good laugh that everyone needed.
That occurred when Virginia Rep. Elaine Luria observed (with supporting video evidence) that Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, despite having urged on the pro-Trump crowd outside the Capitol early in the day, from behind police lines, with a raised fist—and despite having been centrally involved in promoting “Stop the Steal” conspiracy theories about election fraud—had demonstrated an exceptional, slapstick level of haste and alarm in fleeing from that crowd once the possibility arose that he might have direct contact with some of its members.
Was the slow-motion replay truly necessary, as a matter of public interest? I don’t know, but clip-clop, clip-clop, there goes Josh Hawley!
Here’s how it landed in the hearing room:
Hawley’s urge to become president is physically palpable, and while did not seem likely to ever fully win over MAGA voters before this, getting caught on video running away from a group of them like a cartoon drum major running from a cartoon bear has probably permanently foreclosed the possibility. Too bad!
