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Josh Hawley Faces More Fallout: Loews Hotels Cancels Fundraiser Event

This article is more than 3 years old.
Updated Jan 17, 2021, 09:26am EST

Topline

Loews Hotels announced Saturday that they would no longer host a planned fundraiser at its Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who continues to deal with significant fallout—from a canceled book deal to a denouncement of longtime supporters—following his efforts to assist President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Key Facts

In a statement on Twitter, Loews declared they were "horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol" as well as "all who supported and incited the actions."

Loews, a luxury hospitality company that owns or operates 24 hotels in the United States and Canada, added that "in light of" the events on Jan. 6, "and for the safety of our guests and team members, we have informed the host of the Feb. fundraiser that it will no longer be held at Loews Hotels."

The February fundraising event was organized by a Hawley-affiliated political committee called Fighting for Missouri, which reportedly raised more than $270,000 for Hawley during the 2020 election cycle.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the fundraiser was to cost $5,000 in contributions for a family, $3,000 for a couple, and $1,000 for an individual, and was promoted as a "fun-filled-family-friendly Orlando weekend event."

In an emailed statement to Forbes, Hawley said, “If these corporations don’t want conservatives to speak, they should just be honest about it. But to equate leading a debate on the floor of the Senate with inciting violence is a lie, and it’s dangerous,” adding, “I will not be deterred from representing my constituents and I will not bow to left wing corporate pressure.”

Key Background:

Hawley was the first Republican senator to announce that he would challenge the certification of the election results in Congress and was among those criticized for inciting the mob that infiltrated the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6. The following day, Simon & Schuster said that it would cancel the publication of an upcoming book by Hawley. Hawley’s political mentor, Jack Danforth, a former senator and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, said backing Hawley’s bids for office “the worst mistake I ever made in my life.” On Friday evening, Florida attorney Daniel Uhlfelder posted a copy of a flyer promoting the Fighting for Missouri event on Twitter, resulting in an immediate social media backlash against Loews. Political strategist Rick Wilson retweeted Uhlfelder's post, adding, "I wonder if @Loews_Hotels knows they're hosting a man who encouraged a violent mob with a raised fist salute just hours before they stormed the Capitol and murdered a cop?" Steve Schmidt, who previously worked on President George W. Bush's campaign, wrote that if Lowes "would welcome a gathering of the Klan, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, extremist militias and insurrectionists then, by all means, they should host" Hawley. Anna Eskamani, a member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 47th district, tweeted, "Is @Loews_Hotels / @UniversalORL going to cancel this fundraiser being hosted by seditionist @HawleyMO in Orlando, or are they going to just be chill with a treasonous politician who would rather see Democracy burn for his own political gain?" 

Tangent:

Last week, the editorial boards of Missouri's two most prominent newspapers called for Hawley to resign. The St Louis. Post-Dispatch's board excoriated Hawley for having "the gall to stand before the Senate Wednesday night and feign shock… hours after he had fist-pumped and cheered the rioters as they arrived on Capitol Hill." The Kansas City Star called the senator "the poster boy of the radical right" and asserted that there should be "a penalty for being the ringleader of those encouraging overturning an election." 

Crucial Quote: 

"I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections," Hawley said on Jan. 7, the day after the insurrection. "That's my job, and I will keep doing it."

Further Reading:

'I Don't Know How You Can Live With Yourself': Hawley, Cruz Increasingly Shunned After Capitol Attack (Forbes)

'Poster Boy Of The Radical Right': Missouri's Two Biggest Newspapers Call For Sen. Josh Hawley's Resignation (Forbes) 

After uproar, Loews cancels fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley at Universal Orlando's Portofino Bay hotel (Orlando Sentinel)

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