Josh Hawley has invested 'tens of thousands of dollars' in the 'very tech companies he denounces': report

Railing against big tech and "woke capitalism" is a big part of Sen. Josh Hawley's Trumpian pseudo-populist brand, and the far-right Missouri Republican even has an entire book dedicated to the subject: "The Tyranny of Big Tech," due out May 4. But according to Guardian reporters Dominic Rushe and Daniel Strauss, Hawley is considerably invested in the very tech companies he demonizes.

In an article published by The Guardian on April 29, Rushe and Strauss report that the publication has examined "public financial disclosure records" — and the documents show that Hawley has "investedpotentially tens of thousands of dollars in the very companies he denounces."

"According to Senate financial disclosures, the senator's disdain for big tech does not extend to his investment portfolio," Rushe and Strauss explain. "Hawley and his wife each have somewhere between $1000 and $15,000 invested in Vanguard Growth Index Fund ETF, which has holdings in Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Facebook. The disclosures don't offer exact amounts of holdings, only a range."

The reporters add, "The Hawleys held considerably more cash in Vanguard funds in 2018, according to his disclosures. The couple held between $50,001 and $100,000 in Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF, between $50,001 and $100,000 in Vanguard Growth ETF and another $50,001 to $100,000 in Vanguard Value ETF."

Rushe and Strauss point out that while it is "not unusual for senators to have mutual funds while serving in Congress or for lawmakers to have investments in individual stocks," it is a "counterintuitive decision for Hawley" in light of how vehemently he has attacked big tech.

In "The Tyranny of Big Tech," Hawley complains that major companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook "have become a techno-oligarchy with overwhelming economic and political power." And he writes, "Theodore Roosevelt had balked at the monopolies of his day that had consolidated power and crowded out the common man, but the robber barons' power over everyday Americans was nothing compared to that wielded by big tech."

Hawley's book is being published by Regnery Publishing, which is not the publisher he originally had in mind. "The Tyranny of Big Tech" was going to be published by Simon & Schuster, but that publishing giant dropped the book because of Hawley's role in the January 6 insurrection.

Before Congress met on January 6 to certify now-President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over then-President Donald Trump in the 2020 election, Hawley announced that he would contest the election results — and Hawley promoted Trump's false and totally debunked claim that widespread voter fraud had occurred in 2020. A now-infamous photo shows Hawley, on January 6, raising his arm in solidarity with a crowd of Trump supporters outside the U.S. Capitol Building, which was violently attacked by far-right extremists later that day.

Hawley became the face of violent insurrection, inspiring Simon & Schuster to end their publishing deal with the senator — who has since played the victim card nonstop.