WASHINGTON — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said Friday he would not stop using a photo showing him with his raised fist on campaign merchandise after receiving a cease-and-desist order earlier this week.
Politico owns the photo, which Hawley has used on mugs, drink coozies and T-shirts. Hawley’s attorneys, responding to the complaint from the political news site, said their use of the image fell under “fair use” laws.
“The image used on the mug is a protected fair use and the Hawley Campaign’s speech is further protected by the First Amendment,” wrote Jessica Furst Johnson, Hawley’s campaign counsel. “Neither the Campaign nor Senator Hawley will engage in self-censorship to placate the legally baseless demands of your client.”
At issue is a photo of Hawley raising his fist in solidarity with protesters outside of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Later that day, a crowd stormed the Capitol and disrupted certification of the 2020 presidential election in an act that members of both political parties have called an insurrection.
The photo was taken by Francis Chung, a photographer for E&E news, an energy and environment trade publication owned by Politico.
After GOP Lincoln Days in Missouri last month, Hawley began selling mugs on his campaign website with an illustrated version of the photo and the text “show-me strong” underneath. Later, the campaign used the illustration on drink coozies and t-shirts.
Earlier this week, lawyers from Politico sent Hawley a cease and desist letter, saying they owned the copyright to the photo and alleging he was illegally making money off of their image.
Politico did not immediately return a request for comment.
The photo, which came to symbolize Hawley’s opposition to certification of Pennsylvania’s ballots in the 2020 presidential election, was first seen as a fatal blow to his status as a rising political star. After the mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol and disrupted the process, many senators were visibly shaken and establishment Republicans vowed to treat Hawley as a pariah.
But as many in the base of the Republican Party embraced false claims that the election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, the image has only enhanced Hawley’s standing.
———
