Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and Walmart had a social media dispute Wednesday, which led to the hashtag #BoycottWalmart trending on social media.
What happened:
Hawley said Wednesday on Twitter that he plans to object to the Jan. 6, 2021, joint session of Congress, which will look to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s presidency (more on that later).
The official Walmart account responded to Hawley, saying “Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #soreloser,” according to screenshots of the tweet.
- Hawley responded to Walmart, saying, “Thanks @Walmart for your insulting condescension. Now that you’ve insulted 75 million Americans, will you at least apologize for using slave labor?”
- “Or maybe you’d like to apologize for the pathetic wages you pay your workers as you drive mom and pop stores out of business.”
Or maybe you’d like to apologize for the pathetic wages you pay your workers as you drive mom and pop stores out of business
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) December 30, 2020
Walmart deleted the tweet and issued an apology:
- “The tweet was mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team who intended to publish this comment to their personal account,” Casey Staheli, Walmart’s senior manager, told the Washington Examiner. “We have removed the post and have no intention of commenting on the subject of certifying the electoral college. We apologize to Senator Hawley for this error and any confusion about our position.”
More on Hawley’s objection
Hawley became the first senator to confirm his plan to object to the Congress session.
- The current Electoral Count Act says if a member in each chamber objects to the Electoral College results, Congress will hold a two-hour debate. After the debate, the two sides will vote to accept or reject challenged electoral votes, according to Politico.
- Per The Washington Examiner, this isn’t unprecedented. Democrats have tried this twice since 2000 but neither attempt was successful.