Hawley explains lone 'no' vote on bipartisan Asian hate crimes bill

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he couldn't join with the rest of the Senate in approving an Asian hate crimes bill on Thursday because the legislation was too broad and could infringe on free speech.

In a rare move of bipartisanship, the Senate on Thursday approved by a vote of 94-1 a coronavirus hate crimes bill designed to denounce the uptick of violence against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) during the pandemic and give new support to federal and local law enforcement to track and combat such crimes. 

In a tweet following his "no" vote, Hawley said the legislation raises "free speech questions."

"[I]t turns the federal government into the speech police - gives government sweeping authority to decide what counts as offensive speech and then monitor it," Hawley tweeted. "Raises big free speech questions."

In a follow-up statement to Fox News, Hawley added that the language could be "dangerous."

"It’s too broad," Hawley said. "As a former prosecutor, my view is it’s dangerous to simply give the federal government open-ended authority to define a whole new class of federal hate crime incidents."

The bill's lead sponsor, Hawaii Democrat Sen. Mazie Hirono, said passing S.937 would "send a clear message of support and solidarity to the AAPI community."