Hawley on criticism of White House demolition: ‘Give me a break’
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) on Tuesday dismissed critics of President Trump’s demolition of the East Wing’s façade to build a new White House ballroom, arguing that liberal reformers have torn down historic statues around the country.
Accusing Trump’s critics of hypocrisy, Hawley exclaimed, “Give me a break,” when asked by Laura Ingraham on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle” about the liberals’ anger over the controversial renovation of the White House’s East Wing, which started with a backhoe demolishing part of the historic structure.
“These are the people who for the last four years have torn down every statue of this country’s history they could get their hands on. George Washington, tore it down. Thomas Jefferson, tore it down. Theodore Roosevelt, tore it down,” Hawley said.
A statue of Washington was torn down in Portland, Oregon, in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter protests while an 187-year-old statue of Jefferson was removed from New York City Hall council chambers in 2021 and a bronze statue of Roosevelt was removed from the entrance of the American Museum of Natural History in New York in 2022.
“And now they’re the great defenders of history? Give me a break. They hate Donald Trump. They hate everything he does,” Hawley said.
Former first lady Hillary Clinton led the charge of online criticism when she posted on X Tuesday that Trump is “destroying” the White House.
“It’s not his House,” Clinton posted along with a Washington Post photo of the demolition. “It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”
Hawley defended Trump’s renovation of the East Wing to create a large ballroom by noting that the president would not pay for it with taxpayer money.
“The president is doing this on his own dime,” he said. “I saw it today. It looks fantastic. I’m delighted he is doing it and I love seeing these liberals melt down.”
Hawley’s remarks came after he and other Republican senators had lunch with Trump at the White House Tuesday.