Frontlist | Josh Hawley finds new publisher after Simon & Schuster

Hawley faces growing calls for censure, even expulsion, by Senate leadership. Some donors have suspended contributions. As reported by the Guardian on Monday, one major Hawley donor, the billionaire Jeffrey Yass, has said he feels “deceived”.

On dropping Hawley’s book, Simon & Schuster said: “We did not come to this decision lightly. As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: at the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat to our democracy and freedom.”

Hawley responded angrily, saying: “This could not be more Orwellian … Let me be clear, this is not just a contract dispute. It’s a direct assault on the first amendment … I will fight this cancel culture with everything I have. We’ll see you in court.”

Simon & Schuster said it was “confident that we are acting fully within our contractual rights”.

On Monday, the Federalist report about Hawley’s new deal accused Simon & Schuster of “quickly caving to a pressure campaign organized by leftist activists and making the Missouri Republican one of the highest-profile victims of cancel culture”.

The report also channelled Republican defenses of Trump, referring to the insurrection at the Capitol as an “incursion” which it said was “the result of organized planning rather than impromptu incitement, as media and leftist activists had initially claimed”.