Hawley Fires Back After Publisher Nixes His Upcoming Book: 'A Direct Assault on the First Amendment'
A planned book by Sen. Josh Hawley, who objected to President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win, has been canceled by its publisher in the wake of the riot at the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters, a decision the Missouri Republican called “Orwellian” and vowed to fight in court.
In a statement on Thursday, Simon & Schuster announced that “after witnessing the disturbing, deadly insurrection that took place on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Simon & Schuster has decided to cancel publication of Senator Josh Hawley’s forthcoming book, “The Tyranny of Big Tech.”
“We did not come to this decision lightly,” the publisher added.
“As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom.”
Thousands of Trump supporters had gathered in Washington on Wednesday to protest Congress’ formal certification of Biden’s win, and many ended up storming into the Capitol, delaying the process into early Thursday morning.
Hawley has often been cited as a possible future presidential candidate and his book, scheduled to come out in June, was an intended forum on the undue power of Google, Facebook and other internet giants.
Soon after news broke that his book was dropped, Hawley tweeted that he was being unfairly censored: “Simon & Schuster is canceling my contract because I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to redefine as sedition.”
“This could not be more Orwellian. … Let me be clear, this is not just a contract dispute. It’s a direct assault on the First Amendment. Only approved speech can now be published. This is the Left looking to cancel everyone they don’t approve of. I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We’ll see you in court.”
My statement on the woke mob at @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/pDxtZvz5J0
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 7, 2021
Simon & Schuster quickly issued another statement: “We are confident that we are acting fully within our contractual rights” to cancel the book.
Simon & Schuster has had numerous clashes with Trump and his supporters over the last few years.
It called off a deal with the far-right writer and commentator Milo Yiannopoulos and published several anti-Trump books, including niece Mary Trump’s “Too Much and Never Enough” and former national security adviser John Bolton’s “The Room Where It Happened.”
New York publishers had already expressed reluctance to take on a post-presidential memoir by Trump, whose “Crippled America” was published by Simon & Schuster in 2015. A Simon & Schuster spokesman declined comment on whether the publisher would be interested in a new Trump book.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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