Hawley Bashes ‘Leftwing Attack on Manhood,’ Tells Men to Stop Spending So Much Time Watching Porn and Playing Video Games

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told Axios on HBO that defending traditional masculinity is a main focus of his, arguing that men watching porn and playing video games “is not good for you, your family, or this country.”

“Why masculinity as your new big issue?” asked Mike Allen in an interview that aired Sunday.

“Well, I think what the left is doing is attacking America,” said Hawley. “They’re saying that America is systemically oppressive, and men are systemically responsible.”

Asked by Allen to “paint a picture” of what being a man means, Hawley said, “Well, a man is a father, a man is a husband, a man is somebody who takes responsibility.”

“As conservatives, we’ve got to call men back to responsibility,” he continued. “We’ve got to say that spending your time not working — and we have more and more men who aren’t working. Spending your time on video games, spending your time watching porn online while doing nothing is not good for you, your family, or this country.”

Allen pushed back about whether “what the liberals are doing” will lead to more porn consumption or Donkey Kong gaming, going on to ask, “Do you mean that literally?”

“Well, what I mean literally is that the liberal attack, the leftwing attack on manhood says to men you’re part of the problem. It says that your masculinity is inherently problematic, it’s inherently oppressive.”

Hawley then made the argument that joblessness has caused men to become “idle,” which in turn leads to porn and video games.

Hawley’s comments came after a speech he gave at the National Conservatism Conference, in which he specifically highlighted masculinity and declining marriage rates as an issue.

While Hawley’s interview did receive applause from a few conservative individuals (for example, here and here) the interview was more broadly met with mockery.

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