Comment Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) may have broken a Guinness World Record on Thursday — if there is one for guest starring in the most movies and music videos in a single night. There was “Chariots of Fire,” with Hawley running in slow motion to the film’s iconic piano theme song. Then came the cheerful tune from “The Benny Hill Show,” followed by soundtrack entries from “Rocky,” “Titanic” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Hawley then hit the music scene, appearing on Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” Van Halen’s “Runnin’ with the Devil,” and Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill,” the 1985 revival of recently and rose to the top of the charts thanks. on his Netflix show “Stranger Things.” But Hawley’s footage was all the same: two clips shown on prime time during the most recent House committee hearing he investigated on January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Both showed Hawley running from rioters as they poured into the building, according to the commission. While the videos drew laughter from the audience listening in real time, the internet was just getting started. Within minutes and then hours, people were mercilessly roasting Hawley. Some set the videos to music — mostly songs with running lyrics. Others took to the wordplay by coining a new term to describe what the junior senator from Missouri was doing: Hawlin’. Most memes they just posted — of Forrest Gump sprinting at the start of his run across the country. of the Road Runner zooming down the road with a “Meep meep”. of “Seinfeld” character George Costanza pushing an elderly woman and several children to escape a fire at a children’s birthday party. “I’ll be drinking from the well of Josh Hawley content for the rest of the week,” wrote one Twitter user. Hawley’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Washington Post late Thursday. Aside from the brief burst of laughter, things remained dark at Thursday’s hearing. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) introduced Hawley as the senator who, while walking past protesters as he walked past the east side of the Capitol on Jan. 6, raised his fist in solidarity with them before entering the building. A U.S. Capitol police officer guarding the building told the committee that Hawley’s gesture “roused the crowd,” Luria said, with a giant version of the fist photo projected behind her. The officer told the commission that Hawley’s behavior “very disturbed” her because it disturbed protesters from “a safe space”, protected by barricades and police between them and any mob that might form. Then it rolled into the Capitol, leaving officers on the front lines to deal with the fallout, he said. But that safe space didn’t last, Luria said. “Later that day, Senator Hawley fled after the protesters he helped instigate stormed the Capitol.” “See for yourself,” Luria added. The videos played. A three-second video showed Hawley walking down the halls of the Capitol, past several officers, which Luria said the senator did to escape the rioters who flooded the building. The panel replayed the video in slow motion for good measure. Then came a six-second clip showing Hawley descending a staircase with others. Hawley defended the Jan. 6 protesters’ fist-pumping salute before questioning the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory over President Donald Trump. The senator argued that, like him, many of them had come to protest peacefully and called the gathering of those people with the rioters “an insult to the thousands and thousands, tens of thousands of people who came to the Capitol that day to protest peacefully.” Hawley continued to make political hay — and money — from the image of the fist. Hawley rendered the image on several merchandise, along with the tagline “SHOW ME STRONG!” — a reference to Missouri’s nickname, “the Show-Me State” — and began selling the items in February, the Missouri Independent reported in March. Netizens joined Luria’s juxtaposition of the punch photo and current videos to target Hawley. Using a popular meme, one user categorized the photo of Hawley with a fist bump as confused and a still image of him walking away as “finding out.” Some Twitter users stuck to the classic one-liner format by taking a dig at Hawley. There was the message from a California freelance writer and editor: From now on, if political reporters ask Josh Hawley if he plans to run, he should ask them to clarify. TV and Film Producer: Missouri Democrats should host an annual Josh Hawley 5K as a fundraiser. And a political consultant, who took the opportunity to try to boost voter turnout: Better run to the polls like Josh Hawley ran from the insurgency. Others drew more from the language of the Internet to grill Hawley. In a tweet that had racked up 13 million views by Friday morning, another TV producer posted a four-second GIF of a man sprinting with the caption: “How Josh Hawley left Capitol Hill on January 6.” Legendary TV newsman Dan Rather piled on, keeping it clear: “Run Hawley Run.” One Twitter user stepped in with the assist, responding to Rather’s allusion to “Forrest Gump” with a GIF of the character played by Tom Hanks sprinting. Political commentator Charlie Sykes immediately saw the value of Hawley’s online videos. Moments after the clips were shown publicly, he was ready to call it quits. “Josh Hawley’s run,” he wrote, “is a meme for the ages.”
