Hawley scores raucous applause when he brings up objection to Electoral College certification

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As Sen. Josh Hawley brought up his objection to the Electoral College certification, the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) erupted in a standing ovation, cheers and a "USA" chant. 

The Missouri Republican said he’d brought forth an objection to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes to "have a debate over election integrity."

"What was the result of that? I was called a traitor," he told the crowd, "I was called seditious, the radical left said I should resign," or be forced out, he said.

Donald Trump lost the Electoral College vote to President Biden 306-232.

"Over the last six weeks the radical left, their corporate allies and the liberal media have tried to cancel me, censor me, expel me, shut me down, stop me from representing the people of Missouri, stop me from representing you, and guess what? I'm here today, I'm not going anywhere and I'm not backing down," Hawley said. 

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"I did what my Democratic colleagues have done in every single election a Republican has won in the last 20 years," arguing that Democrats had objected to the vote in 11 different states.

In 2017, when then-Vice President Biden was presiding over the Senate, he dismissed half a dozen House Democrat objections to Trump’s victory. 

"I thought it was an important stand to take, and for that, the left has come after me. They tried to silence me. They canceled a book," Hawley, a staunch ally of former President Trump, said. 

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Hawley said he was working for "a new nationalism, a new agenda, to make the rule of the people real in this country." 

"We're not the past, we're the future," he said of Trump-style populist Republicans like him. 

Hawley, who alongside Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, led the fight against certifying the Electoral College results until there was a Congressional investigation of voter fraud, took heat for what many took as a role in agitating pro-Trump rioters who then stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. He lost a book deal with Simon & Schuster, and Democrats launched an ethics complaint against him, with some demanding his resignation. 

The passionate response Hawley drew at CPAC was indicative of a conference closely aligned with Trump, bucking some predictions that the former president’s star power in the GOP would dwindle in the days following President Biden’s inauguration. 

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Hawley, who has drawn nationwide attention by standing up to Big Tech and retaliating against "conservative censorship" by proposing audacious bills to rein in their power, is believed by some to be angling for a 2024 run, if Trump doesn't jump into the mix. 

Fox Nation is a sponsor of CPAC.