Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley is accusing a St. Louis TV reporter of misogyny after the reporter noted that Hawley’s wife worked on the legal team that represented the Christian graphic designer at the center of a recent Supreme Court landmark ruling.
Mark Maxwell, the political editor for KSDK News, asked Hawley for his reaction to the Supreme Court ruling that upheld Colorado graphic designer Lorie Smith’s legal challenge to the state’s anti-discrimination law. Smith was represented by the conservative legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, where Hawley’s wife Erin works as senior counsel to the appellate team. Maxwell asked Hawley if the organization wife has “credibility” issues, alleging the customer named in the lawsuit as requesting the same-sex wedding website appeared to be fake.
“You’re asking me now about my wife’s case?” Hawley responded. “Is that the deal, Mark?
“Right, but a case you’ve commented on, a case that’s of significant importance to the country,” Maxwell replied.
Hawley, who has clashed with Maxwell in the past, said the journalist was trying to “rope my wife” into the interview before defending his wife’s professional credibility. “My wife is a working professional,” he said. “She is an attorney who is every bit if not more qualified than me, and you can ask her if you want to ask questions. Let’s not try and use my wife as a political ploy, Mark.”
Maxwell said it was not intended as “a political ploy at all,” and began repeating his question before Hawley interjected, “Here’s the deal. Let me just set you straight on this and help you get it through your head. My wife doesn’t work for me. I’m not the spokesperson for my wife, and you know why? Because my wife has her own career, she’s got her own job, she’s a lawyer in her own right. So if you want comments from my wife, you can reach out to her. But don’t come to me and ask me to comment on my wife and speak for my wife. I’m not surprised you’re doing it, but it’s disgraceful… you ought to be ashamed.”
Maxwell’s question centered around leftist conspiracy theories that a customer requesting a same-sex wedding mentioned in court filings was fake. NBC News even weighted in, reporting “complaints on social media that the case should never have made it as far as the Supreme Court, with many arguing that Smith didn’t have legal standing to bring the case if there weren’t any customers seeking her services.”
The Alliance Defending Freedom shot down the allegations circulating in the press, hailing the Court’s ruling a “landmark victory for free speech.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
