Walmart has issued an apology to Sen. Josh Hawley after referring to the Republican lawmaker from Missouri as a “sore loser.”
The shady comment was in response to Hawley announcing on Twitter his plans to object to the upcoming Electoral College certification for President-elect Joe Biden. The senator supports President Donald Trump’s allegations of widespread voter fraud in the election.
“Millions of voters concerned about election integrity deserve to be heard. I will object on January 6 on their behalf,” Hawley tweeted on Wednesday.
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“Go ahead. Get your 2-hour debate. #soreloser,” Walmart replied in a now-deleted tweet.
In a follow-up tweet, Hawley posted a screenshot of the company’s comment, writing, “Now that you’ve insulted 75 million Americans, will you at least apologize for using slave labor?” He added, “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.”
Hawley’s supporters threatened to boycott the retail giant over the jab, and #BoycottWalmart began to trend on Wednesday.
Walmart’s Twitter account later apologized to the senator, and senior manager Casey Staheli explained to the Washington Examiner that the “tweet was mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team who intended to publish this comment to their personal account,” she said.
“We deleted the post and have no intention of commenting on the subject of certifying the electoral college,” the company said. “We apologize to Senator Hawley for this error and any confusion about our position.”
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theGRIO previously reported, Trump has pushed Republican senators to pursue his unfounded charges even though the Electoral College this month cemented Biden’s 306-232 victory and multiple legal efforts to challenge the results have failed.
Biden is set to be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021. A group of Republicans in the Democratic-majority House have already said they will object on Trump’s behalf.
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