Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) shouted at activists in a Capitol Hill hallway, telling them they take money from “the most corrupt people on the face of the earth.”
LiveNOW from FOX, a sister network of Fox News, aired video of the confrontation Tuesday as Republicans held leadership meetings. The network’s anchor said the group appeared to be activists from the anti-war organization Code Pink.
Although much of the audio was muffled, Hawley and the activists could be heard trading accusations about who pays whom.
“…the Uyghurs, who are … being devastated,” Hawley said as the clip begins, referring to a mostly Muslim minority in China, apparently linking their treatment to a government he suggested funds the activists.
“A guy who literally takes money from oil, from health care, from the—” a woman in the group yelled.
“I don’t take money from corporations, pal,” Hawley shot back.
“You don’t know, because you take money from the most corrupt people on the face of the earth,” he said.
“Fund you! Fund you!” Hawley shouted as he walked away, after saying he hoped they were all getting their money from “the most corrupt government in the world.”
“Hey, we’re not — we’re not gonna scream at—” a staffer said as he stepped between Hawley and the group.
“Arrest him!” the activist yelled.
“Oh, you try to have me arrested!” Hawley yelled back, jabbing his finger toward the activist.
Hawley’s claim that a corrupt government funds the activists echoed a charge he has made against Code Pink, whose members he has confronted in Capitol Hill hallways at least five times since February 2024. Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans is married to Neville Roy Singham, a Shanghai-based businessman, and many donations to Code Pink have come from two groups linked to him, The Washington Times reported. A 2023 New York Times investigation found that outlets in a media network Singham owns promote China’s messaging. Singham has said he doesn’t work at the Chinese government’s direction, and Code Pink says it receives no money from China or any foreign government.
“If you guys had your way, there’d be a second Holocaust,” Hawley told one activist in the Senate Hart Building in February 2024. After another hallway encounter two months later, Hawley slammed the people involved as “astroturf wackos.”
“You’re awash in blood and dirty money,” Hawley told Code Pink leader Medea Benjamin in April 2025.
After another hallway confrontation in October 2025, in which Hawley accused the group of taking “blood money” from China, Code Pink filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee, saying, “CODEPINK has no contact with the Chinese Communist Party,” The Washington Times reported.
Hawley’s clashes extend beyond protesters in hallways to witnesses at Senate hearings.
Hawley and Gregory Jackson Jr., a former White House adviser under former President Joe Biden, got into a shouting match at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in September 2025, Fox News reported.
“I don’t think we’re getting any place,” Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said as he banged his gavel.
“Oh, I think we’ve gone a long way, senator,” Hawley replied.
Hawley lashed out at Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing in February 2026, telling him, “I should call you a prisoner because you ought to be in jail.” Hawley accused Ellison of helping people tied to a fraud scheme in Minnesota, and Ellison denied the accusations, calling them a lie.
When Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) urged Hawley to tone it down during the same exchange, Hawley refused.