Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said Monday night that the GOP’s “Washington Republicanism” must “come to an end,” adding that the Republican Party is in need of a leadership change.
“We need good strong independent leadership that actually listens to voters and doesn’t just listen to the Washington lobbyists,” Hawley told “Tucker Carlson Tonight” guest host Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii. “I’ll just tell you, when it comes to the GOP, the Washington Republicanism that cares more about Wall Street than it does about working people, it’s time for that to come to an end.” (RELATED: ‘Do Not Reward Mediocrity’: Tucker Carlson Says GOP Needs To Replace Leadership After ‘Frustrating’ Midterm Results)
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate minority leader, has come under fire over spending decisions during the 2022 midterms, including a decision to reportedly pull $8 million in campaign spending from Arizona after Blake Masters won the primary nomination, according to Fox News. Masters, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, narrowly lost to Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, according to the New York Times.
Former president Trump also came under fire from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz just prior to the Nov. 8 midterms for reportedly sitting on a massive campaign war chest.
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“What voters are asking us to do is pretty clear: Secure our streets. You know, let’s put new cops on the street, 100,000 of them,” Hawley said. “Secure the borders, stop the indoctrination of our children and bring jobs back to this country. It used to be you could support a family on one good wage. You can’t do that anymore in this country because of the ruinous trade policies that unfortunately both parties have supported. That has got to come to an end. Republicans have got to be the party of working people and working class culture.”
Republicans did not meet expectations of a “red wave” nationally in the Nov. 8 midterms where many Trump-endorsed candidates in high-profile races lost, leading to criticism of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy at a closed-door meeting of House Republicans Monday.
“If you look at who didn’t show up, Tulsi, you’ve got independents who don’t like Joe Biden and they voted for President Obama back in the day, they voted for President Trump, but they looked at the options this year and they’re like, ‘Eh, I don’t like Biden at all and I don’t like the Democrats, but I don’t trust the Republicans,’” Hawley said. “Why? Because the Republicans weren’t offering anything, they weren’t saying we’re going to secure the border, they weren’t saying we’ll put cops on the street. We’ve got to go out there and make the case.”
“We need new leadership in the Republican Party in Washington,” Hawley said. “This is why I will not support Mitch McConnell for leader. We need new leadership but we also need real convictions. That’s what we have to be about going forward.”
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