As JD Vance settles into his role as Vice-President of the United States—and presumptive heir to Donald Trump’s populist throne—another Republican senator is quietly but audaciously laying claim to the same inheritance. Enter Josh Hawley: the fist-raising, union-hugging, populist-posturing Senator from Missouri who has managed to rebrand himself from January 6 pariah to blue-collar crusader.While Vance enjoys the institutional weight of the vice-presidency and Trump’s personal endorsement, Hawley is playing the long game. With a series of legislative proposals and bipartisan alliances, he’s betting on a new kind of Republican appeal: pro-labor, anti-corporate, and unmistakably MAGA.
From Fists to Families
Once best known for saluting protesters on January 6 before running from them on camera, Hawley has undergone a political transformation few would have predicted. This year, he shocked conservatives and delighted labour organisers by releasing a union-friendly proposal: A Pro-Worker Framework for the 119th US Congress. Among other things, it seeks to ban captive-audience meetings and impose civil penalties for labour violations—ideas more at home in Bernie Sanders’ toolkit than Paul Ryan’s.On Tax Day, Hawley published an op-ed in The Washington Post calling for expanded tax relief for low-income families. He followed up with another in The New York Times, blasting “corporatist Republicans” for demanding Medicaid cuts in Trump’s “big, beautiful” spending bill. He even teamed up with Democrat Peter Welch to cap prescription drug prices and with Cory Booker to speed up union contract negotiations.For a senator once known for fighting Obamacare and opposing minimum wage hikes, the pivot is seismic.
Labor Love or Opportunism?
Is Hawley for real? Skeptics abound. Labour leaders who once begged for his support and were turned away now watch him appear on picket lines with cameras in tow. Jim Kabell, a retired Teamsters organiser, called it “the most shameful political theatre I’ve ever seen.” But others see a shift in the GOP base—and in Hawley himself. A former Democratic staffer suggests Hawley’s disdain for Big Tech monopolies may have genuinely pushed him left on labour issues.This isn’t ideological evolution in isolation—it’s strategic adaptation. A YouGov-American Compass poll in March showed Republican favourability toward unions at a net positive 8 points, jumping to 38 among Republicans born after 1980. In that generational chasm, Hawley sees his future.
The Post-Trump Primary Begins
Vice President JD Vance waves after speaking with American Compass founder Oren Cass at the American Compass’s The New World Gala in Washington, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
With the GOP base changing and the Trump dynasty facing questions of succession, the 2028 Republican primary is shaping up as a clash between two brands of right-wing populism. On one side, JD Vance, the vice-president and former venture capitalist who fuses nationalism with traditional conservatism. On the other, Josh Hawley, the banker’s son turned culture warrior turned union ally, who’s betting on policy populism as his path to the White House.They’re not alone. But they’re the front-runners in what is shaping up to be the GOP’s most ideological internal battle in a generation.Vance, with Trump’s direct blessing, recently fist-bumped a Democratic Congresswoman on a UAW picket line. Hawley, not to be outdone, co-sponsored legislation with Bernie-adjacent Democrats and wrote a scathing anti-corporate screed worthy of Elizabeth Warren—if Warren had ever raised a fist for the Capitol mob.But where Vance remains cautiously loyal to Trump’s more oligarchic instincts, Hawley is positioning himself as the Republican who can take on Amazon, Meta, and Musk—all while draping himself in a union jacket.
The Elephant in the White House
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., speaks during a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Of course, all this populist cosplay comes with contradictions. While Hawley talks about defending workers, the Trump Administration has actively attacked them. In March, Trump signed an executive order stripping nearly a million federal workers of their union rights. His new Department of Government Efficiency—run by Elon Musk—has gutted protections for unionised employees. And the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” has, according to the Congressional Budget Office, favoured the rich while cutting real income for the poorest Americans.And here’s the kicker: Hawley hasn’t said a word in protest. Labor historians call it “the biggest union-busting action in US history.” Hawley calls it Tuesday.
Why Democrats Should Be Worried
Despite the performative silence on Trump’s union purge, the right’s labour flirtation is making inroads. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien may have upset Democratic colleagues by addressing the Republican National Convention, but he says Trump’s administration has “consulted him more than any Democrat ever did.”After decades of assuming unions belonged to the left, the Democratic Party is facing a slow erosion from the right. And it’s not just rhetoric. When 34 senators wrote to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy last year demanding action on driver mistreatment, three Republicans signed it. JD Vance. Roger Marshall. And Josh Hawley. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was nowhere to be found.
The Showdown Ahead
In a post-Trump America, the battle for the soul of the Republican Party may come down to who can love labour louder—Hawley or Vance. Both are betting that working-class voters will forget old allegiances if offered a new kind of conservative who talks unions, wages, and dignity—but still scapegoats immigrants and rails against the “woke.”And if that sounds cynical, that’s because it is.But it might also work.