Walmart Staffer Behind Josh Hawley ‘Sore Loser’ Tweet Gets Offered Free Rent Money – Newsweek

Walmart Staffer Behind Josh Hawley ‘Sore Loser’ Tweet Gets Offered Free Rent Money – Newsweek

A Walmart employee has been offered free rent by an admirers on social media after using the company’s Twitter account to call Republican Senator Josh Hawley a “sore loser” for vowing to object to Congress officially certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s win next week.

The employee used the Walmart account to reply to a tweet from Hawley announcing that he will object to Biden’s certification in support of President Donald Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud. The unauthorized tweet rankled Hawley and enraged Trump supporters who vowed to boycott the company, but others sought to financially reward the employee who made it.

“To the Walmart employee who bravely posted the #soreloser tweet on the @Walmart twitter, please contact me,” Don Winslow, a popular fiction writer and frequent Trump critic, tweeted on Wednesday evening. “I want to pay your rent/mortgage payment next month. And yes, I’m serious.”

Additional Twitter users responded to Winslow’s tweet with similar offers of money for the anonymous employee, with several suggesting that a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign should also be started.

The identity of the employee is still unknown, however, Winslow tweeted that the worker should be able to provide proof of their employment with Walmart and access to the company’s corporate social media account when challenged on the feasibility of the scheme, adding that “it’s not complicated and I’ve done this before.”

The since-deleted tweet told Hawley to “go ahead” and “get your 2 hour debate,” alongside the hashtag #soreloser. It was made in response to a Hawley tweet explaining that he would object to Biden’s win on January 6 because “millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard.”

“Thanks @Walmart for your insulting condescension. Now that you’ve insulted 75 million Americans, will you at least apologize for using slave labor?” Hawley tweeted in response. “Or maybe you’d like to apologize for the pathetic wages you pay your workers as you drive mom and pop stores out of business.”

Casey Staheli, Walmart’s senior manager of national media relations, told Newsweek that the tweet “was mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team who intended to publish this comment to their personal account,” before offering an apology to Hawley for “this error and any confusion about our position.” Hawley has not yet publicly commented on Walmart’s apology.

Hawley’s commitment to challenge the certification and similar pledges made by several House Republicans means Congress will debate the matter, but the challenges will not change the outcome of the election. For an objection to stand, both chambers of Congress would have to vote in favor of it.

The Democratic-controlled House is extremely unlikely to vote in favor of any objection. The GOP-controlled Senate is also unlikely to oblige since multiple Republican senators have congratulated Biden and called for Trump to stop promoting unverified voter fraud theories.

Newsweek reached out to Hawley’s office for comment.

Published at Thu, 31 Dec 2020 02:39:45 +0000