WASHINGTON, D.C. – Missouri Senator Josh Hawley released a statement Thursday afternoon in response to the events of the past 24 hours.

“I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections. That’s my job, and I will keep doing it.”

Sen. Josh Hawley

Senator Hawley has received national backlash after objecting to Joe Biden’s Electoral College win and acknowledging Capitol protesters with a fist pump.

Critics say those actions helped fuel the emotions and beliefs of people like those who converged on the Capitol Wednesday, convinced that somehow the election was stolen from President Trump.

Later after the violence had already happened, Hawley put out a tweet that said, “thank you to the brave law enforcement officials who have put their lives on the line. The violence must end, those who attacked police and broke the law must be prosecuted, and Congress must get back to work and finish its job.”

When the Senate and House finally got back to work, Hawley spoke, condemning the violence but also saying election security is an issue.

“I hope that this body will not miss the opportunity to take affirmative action to address the concerns of so many millions of Americans to say to millions of Americans tonight that violence is never warranted, that violence will not be tolerated, those that engage in it will be prosecuted but that this body will act to address the concerns of all Americans across the country. We do need an investigation into irregularities, fraud, we do need a way forward together. We need election security reforms,” Hawley said.