'The danger has not passed': Conservative warns the GOP is still  a threat after Trump's defeat

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has announced that when the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate meet for a joint session of Congress on January 6, he will contest President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College certification. Never Trump conservative Jonathan V. Last lambasts Hawley for this political stunt in his column for The Bulwark, stressing that it underscores the grip President Donald Trump still has on the Republican Party despite losing the election.

"Josh Hawley announced that he is going to buck Mitch McConnell and join House Republicans to force a roll-call vote on whether or not to accept the Electoral College votes," Last writes. "This was completely predictable. I've literally been telling anyone who would listen that this was where we were headed since forking October."

Last goes on to say that Hawley is responding to a "loyalty test" — that is, loyalty to Trump.

"Hawley coming out this far in advance makes it likely that he'll be joined in his objection by at least Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz and probably a few others — which only sets up the next loyalty test: actually voting to reject the Electoral College votes," Last laments. "That, my friends, is the future of the Republican Party. Loyalty tests, all the way down."

Those who have been reading Last's articles and columns for The Bulwark know that although he is conservative, he believes that Trumpism has been incredibly toxic for the Republican Party — which, he writes, now values loyalty to Trump more than it values constitutional norms.

"While you can probably be a senator from a 'safe' state and get along by mumbling about how 'we have to move on' or 'we'll never really know who won 2020,' to have any future in national Republican politics, you will have to have voted to overturn the election on January 6," Last warns. "Think about that: The price of admission for advancement in Republican politics is now participating in an attempt to overthrow a free and fair election."

The Never Trumper adds, "Donald Trump was defeated, but the danger has not passed. Stand up to Josh Hawley. Stand up for America."