Walmart has apologised to Missouri senator Josh Hawley after one of its employees called him a “sore loser” from the company’s official Twitter account in a now-deleted post.
“The tweet was mistakenly posted by a member of our social media team who intended to publish this comment to their personal account," Casey Staheli, Walmart's senior manager, told the Washington Examiner. "We have removed the post and have no intention of commenting on the subject of certifying the electoral college. We apologize to Senator Hawley for this error and any confusion about our position.”
Before the post was taken down, an employee tweeted, “Go ahead. Get your 2 hour debate. #soreloser," on Wednesday, a response to the news that Mr Hawley would object to the final 6 January certification of the presidential election results, citing what he said were “critical issues” with voting procedures in states like Pennsylvania.
Mr Hawley was the first among several senators to join Republican congressman in objecting to the certification, forcing lawmakers to debate and vote on their objections, though their protests won’t change the outcome. Despite protests from legislators like the Missouri senator, officials from both parties, leaders within the Trump administration, numerous audits, and even more widespread election lawsuits have failed to turn up any meaningful evidence of widespread voting irregularities or fraud.
The Missouri Republican quickly responded to Walmart with tweets of his own, criticizing the corporation for its labor practices.
“Thanks @Walmart for your insulting condescension. Now that you’ve insulted 75 million Americans, will you at least apologize for using slave labor?” he asked in a thread, adding, “Or maybe you’d like to apologize for the pathetic wages you pay your workers as you drive mom and pop stores out of business.” (Walmart reportedly prohibits the use of forced labor in its supply chain and has internal auditors monitor supplier conditions).
The hashtag #BoycottWalmart began trending soon after the post, with conservatives accusing the mega-retailer of political bias.
