Loews Hotels said on Saturday that it would not host a fund-raiser with Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, the latest indication that many companies are distancing themselves from Republicans who voted to overturn the election results.<\/p>\n
Fighting for Missouri, a political action committee affiliated with Mr. Hawley, had planned to host a \u201cfun-filled, family-friendly Orlando weekend event\u201d with the senator at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando, Fla., from Feb. 12 to Feb. 15, according to an invitation for the event. Tickets were being sold for $1,000 to $5,000, depending on the size of the group.<\/p>\n
But Loews said that the fund-raiser had been called off after the deadly riot on the Capitol, which many Democrats and Republicans have blamed in part on Mr. Hawley and other members of his party who supported President Trump\u2019s efforts to stop the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are horrified and opposed to the events at the Capitol and all who supported and incited the actions,\u201d the company said on Twitter. \u201cIn light of those events and for the safety of our guests and team members, we have informed the host of the Feb. fund-raiser that it will no longer be held at Loews Hotels.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Hawley sharply criticized the decision by Loews, which was established in 1960 and owns or operates 26 properties in the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these corporations don\u2019t want conservatives to speak, they should just be honest about it,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cBut to equate leading a debate on the floor of the Senate with inciting violence is a lie, and it\u2019s dangerous. I will not be deterred from representing my constituents, and I will not bow to left-wing corporate pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Hawley persisted in his challenge to the election results even after the mob was cleared out of the Capitol last week, forcing the House and Senate into two hours of debate over Pennsylvania\u2019s electoral votes even though he never made a specific charge of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The rejection by Loews came after Simon & Schuster said that it would cancel the publication of an upcoming book by Mr. Hawley, \u201cThe Tyranny of Big Tech,\u201d which had been scheduled to be published in June.<\/p>\n