Hallmark has asked Republican Senators Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Roger Marshall (Kan.) to return campaign contributions following the breach of the U.S. Capitol by violent supporters of President Donald Trump last week.
Hawley and Marshall both voted in favor of objecting to Biden’s Electoral College wins in Arizona and Pennsylvania on January 6, hours after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol building as Congress met to certify the election results. The violence incident resulted in five deaths and many more injuries.
The actions of Hawley and Marshall were too much for Hallmark, which asked both senators to return donations that its political action committee (PAC) had given them.
“HALLPAC, Hallmark’s political action committee, supports elected leaders from a wide variety of viewpoints—including Democrats, Republicans and Independents,” JiaoJiao Shen, Hallmark’s public relations and social media director, said Monday in a statement obtained by Newsweek. “Hallmark believes the peaceful transition of power is part of the bedrock of our democratic system, and we abhor violence of any kind.”
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“The recent actions of Senators Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall do not reflect our company’s values,” the statement continued. “As a result, HALLPAC requested Sens. Hawley and Marshall to return all HALLPAC campaign contributions.”
HALLPAC donated $3,000 to Hawley and $5,000 to Marshall between 2019 and 2020, according to OpenSecrets.Org. Records show that the PAC also donated to several other congressional lawmakers who objected to Biden’s win, including House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kan.), Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) and Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.).
Hawley and Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were the only senators to raise objections to Biden’s win. The upper chamber voted down Hawley’s objection to results in Pennsylvania by a count of 92 to 7, and Cruz’s objection of Arizona’s results failed by a vote of 93 to 6.
Backlash against the senators has been considerable, with calls for Hawley and Cruz to both resign and be disbarred as lawyers mounting in recent days.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died after a rioter allegedly bashed his head with a fire extinguisher.
A viral video shows a different officer screaming in pain as he was crushed and attacked by the angry mob of Trump supporters while wedged in a doorway. Another video shows an officer being beaten with the poles of American flags and Trump campaign flags as the crowd chanted “U.S.A., U.S.A.”
Trump did not immediately condemning the attack, instead, he repeated his discredited claim that the election had been “stolen” while asking the rioters to “go home” as he praised them as “great patriots” on Twitter.
The outgoing president was later permanently banned from Twitter over fears that he could incite further violence. Several other mainstream social media platforms have also banned or suspended the president.
House Democrats plan to vote on impeaching Trump on Wednesday for allegedly inciting the riot, potentially making him the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice.
