Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) is getting mocked on X over his plan for an hour of prayer and fasting at the Capitol after Republicans’ midterm losses, the Daily Beast reported on Monday.
Hawley, who didn’t face voters this year, posted that last week’s results were “shocking and historic” and said they called for a response on the same scale.
He invited Christians to join him at the Capitol on Dec. 15 for this event from noon to 1 p.m.
Critics zeroed in on the duration, as an hour of fasting is essentially just skipping one meal.
“A whole hour?” wrote Tommy Vietor, who worked on the National Security Council under President Obama.
Christopher Hale, a Catholic who also served in the Obama White House, pointed out that Jesus fasted for 40 days while Hawley is offering one hour.
"Sending Josh Hawley thoughts and prayers. I’m told that’s an adequate response to a massacre," Sarah Matthews, a former Trump White House deputy press secretary, posted on X.
Hawley, an evangelical Presbyterian, often cites his faith in political matters, the Beast noted. In September, he used a prayer breakfast with Missouri pastors to argue for banning the abortion drug mifepristone, saying, in The Beast’s account, that the Supreme Court’s Roe decision didn’t go far enough.
Before the election, The Beast said, Hawley called for a prayer session, billed as lasting 72 hours, backing Missouri legislation that would have restricted abortion rights. Voters rejected it.