Mega-donor who bankrolled Josh Hawley calls for senator to be censured: 'We owe it to our children'

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) continued to be publicly shunned on Thursday after his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election were joined by a violent mob of Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol.

"A Joplin businessman who helped bankroll Sen. Josh Hawley's first campaign denounced him on Thursday as a "political opportunist" who used 'irresponsible, inflammatory, and dangerous tactics' to incite the rioting that took over the U.S. Capitol Building. In a statement late Thursday, David Humphreys, president and CEO of Tamko Building Products, added his voice to a growing chorus of Republicans angry at Hawley for leading a challenge to the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's victory," the Missouri Independent reported Thursday.

"Along with his sister, Sarah Atkins, and his mother, Ethelmae Humphreys, his family provided $4.4 million of the $9.2 million Hawley raised for his 2016 campaign for attorney general. David Humphreys personally donated $2.875 million," the Missouri Independent noted. "In 2018, when Hawley used his office as a springboard for a Senate bid, the Humphreys provided an estimated $2 million to independent groups supporting Hawley."

Humphreys had harsh words for the Missouri Republican.

"Hawley's irresponsible, inflammatory, and dangerous tactics have incited violence and further discord across America. And he has now revealed himself as a political opportunist willing to subvert the Constitution and the ideals of the nation he swore to uphold," Humphreys said in a statement. "Hawley should be censured by his Senate colleagues for his actions which have undermined a peaceful transition of power and for provoking yesterday's riots in our nation's capital. We owe it to our children and grandchildren to protect our country and its Constitutional underpinnings."