Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) does not believe Democratic lawmakers are taking their oath of office seriously as the Senate’s impeachment trial is underway.
“I think what we’re watching is a total kangaroo court,” Hawley declared during a Fox News interview on Thursday.
He added, “It is an illegitimate proceeding, it is unconstitutional. If you want to see the proof of that, just look at what happened last night when Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) pointed out that the House managers had blatantly misquoted him.”
Hawley continued, “He tried to get it stricken from the record, and what ensued was chaos on the Senate floor as Sen. [Patrick] Leahy (D-Vt.) first ordered a vote, stopped the vote in the middle because [Senate Majority Leader] Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) intervened to ask him, ‘Wait a minute, don’t do the vote.'”
The Republican senator called the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump “selfish” on the part of Democrats, accusing them of “pursuing their own personal, political vendetta.”
He suggested Democratic lawmakers are not taking their oath of office seriously and called on them to pursue what is “good” for the American people.
Watch Hawley’s interview below:
Hawley has been adamant that he did not seek to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, as IJR reported.
He said during a previous radio interview with St. Louis radio station KMOX, “I never said that the goal was to overturn the election. That was never the point and it was never possible.”
“I think we need to have a debate about election integrity. I think this is the right forum to do it in. This was never about overturning an election, but it is about Congress exercising its oversight capacity. It is about shining a light on what some of these states did,” Hawley added.
The Missouri senator voted to challenge the election results and has defended that decision. He also denied inciting the violence that occurred on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol when protesters stormed the building.
The Senate will continue on Thursday with the impeachment trial.