Josh Hawley refuses to halt sales of Capitol riot 'fist bump' mug: report

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has emerged as a far-right favorite among former President Donald Trump's supporters since he backed the big election lie that led to the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. Now, he's profiting off of the former president's baseless claims.

According to HuffPost, Hawley has been selling mugs with his "infamous pre-riot fist bump" and the sales have garnered criticism. It is being reported that Politico, the owner of the copyright for the fist bump photo, has issued a cease and desist letter to the lawmaker demanding that he halt sales of the mugs.

However, the lawmaker has made it clear he will not do so. In a public statement to Politico, Hawley's campaign counsel Jessica Furst Johnson argued that the lawmaker is allowed to use the image due to "fair use" protection. “The image used on the mug is a protected fair use and the Hawley Campaign’s speech is further protected by the First Amendment,” Johnson said in the statement.

Despite the statement, Politico argues otherwise. Per HuffPost: "Politico said it owns the rights to the photo, which was taken by E&E photographer Francis Chung before a mob of Donald Trump supporters laid siege to the Capitol for hours (Politico owns E&E). The photo depicts Hawley saluting the crowd before he entered the building to make a dubious objection to the 2020 presidential election."

According to the news outlet's spokesperson Brad Dayspring, the image is not available for fair use. “We did not authorize its use by the Hawley campaign for the purpose of political fundraising, which the campaign has been put on notice of by legal counsel,” Dayspring said.

However, in the statement, Johnson made it clear they have no plan to stop sales. “Neither the Campaign nor Senator Hawley will engage in self-censorship to placate the legally baseless demands of your client,” Johnson said.