Reality Check is a Star series that holds those in power accountable, shedding light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at [email protected]. Get the latest Reality Checks delivered to your inbox with our free newsletter.
H.W. Crocker III believes Western civilization is in decline.
A staunch supporter of conservative Christian values, he has criticized the rise of a secular America, where an increasing number of people identify as “none” in surveys about religious affiliation. Crocker has praised the Confederacy and its generals in works like The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War and Robert E. Lee on Leadership.
This year, he took on a new role: communications consultant for Sen. Josh Hawley’s Senate campaign.
Between May and November, Hawley’s campaign paid Crocker $55,000 for consulting, according to campaign finance records.
While it’s unclear how significant Crocker’s role was, the decision to hire him aligns with Hawley’s growing influence in pushing a socially conservative political message, heavily driven by religion—particularly Christianity.
Hawley is working on a book called The Awakenings: The Religious Revivals that Made America—and Why We Need Another, which advocates for a religious revival in America.
Over the past year, Hawley has focused on promoting policies that defend faith, family, and God, positioning the Republican Party as the moral backbone of the country while critiquing the left for fostering a culture of hedonism.
With President-elect Donald Trump’s second term and Republicans controlling Congress, Hawley’s message is likely to resonate. He has a key ally in Vice President-elect JD Vance, who could help advance Hawley’s agenda, particularly policies that appeal to the working-class base of the Republican Party.
This ideology is beginning to gain traction in Missouri. A state legislator has proposed a bill to display the Ten Commandments in public schools, and a Kansas City-area pastor who claims there is no separation between church and state was elected to the state Senate.
However, some Kansas City religious leaders, like the Rev. Stephen Jones of the First Baptist Church in Kansas City, have voiced concerns.
“They will not help Christianity,” Jones said. “They’ll domesticate it, I guess that’s the right word. They’ll water down the message of Christianity and take away its elegance. And I don’t want that to happen.”
At the Capitol, Hawley declined to comment when asked about Crocker’s role in the campaign and whether Crocker had worked as a speechwriter, as he had for California Gov. Pete Wilson in the 1990s. Hawley’s campaign previously stated that Hawley writes his own speeches.
Since his re-election, Hawley has refused to speak with The Star, offering no explanation other than saying he would not comment “now or in the future.”
Crocker did not respond to an email sent to his publicly listed address.
Embracing the Confederacy
This Article Includes
In August 2023, amid a national debate on American masculinity and the challenges facing young men, Crocker suggested a solution: young men should look to Confederate soldiers as role models.
His essay, drawing from his book Robert E. Lee on Leadership, emphasized the religious faith of Confederate soldiers, framing the removal of Confederate statues as an attempt to erase tributes to Christian men.
“The statues taken down celebrated Christian men: men who put duty above self, who prayed, who believed in self-sacrifice, righteousness, service, and heroism (and recognized it in others), who trusted in God and valued life as a gift,” Crocker wrote, contrasting them with what he sees as a generation of young people who are “the most anxious, depressed, shallow, irreligious, unpatriotic, and immoral generation in American history.”
Crocker’s portrayal of Confederate soldiers reflects a historical narrative that originated during the Civil War, when Southerners portrayed their army as Christian, while the Union was depicted as made up of atheists, socialists, and immigrants, despite many Christians fighting for the Union and advocating for the abolition of slavery.
This narrative, known as the “Lost Cause,” gained popularity after the war, with the myth that the conflict was not about slavery but about preserving Southern culture, a story promoted by Southern Democrats committed to white supremacy.
This myth remains influential, with Confederate statues still standing in places like Missouri, a state that never left the Union but had citizens who fought for both the Union and the Confederacy.
In Kansas City, the battle over Confederate monuments resurfaced in 2020 when city leaders attempted to remove statues linked to racism. Yet, a monument to Confederate soldiers still stands in Forest Hill & Calvary Cemetery, located near a historically Black neighborhood, despite Missouri’s status as a Union state.
- Fitzhugh Brundage, a professor at the University of North Carolina, explained that the Lost Cause remains appealing, particularly to those who are skeptical of federal government power. The myth of the Confederacy as a road not taken continues to resonate with people who see Robert E. Lee as a symbol of resistance to federal authority.
While Lee’s letters and public statements reflected his Christian faith, Brundage noted that Lee also fought to preserve the institution of slavery and expressed racist views in many of his letters.
“In the current environment, removing a statue of Robert E. Lee becomes a symbol of an attack on Christian evangelical tradition, limited government, and those who resist reconciliation,” Brundage said. “That’s why it remains such a potent symbol.”
Sharing Christian Nationalism
Crocker joined Hawley’s campaign in May, according to campaign finance records. By then, Hawley had already delivered a speech in July at the National Conservatism Conference, embracing Christian nationalism.
“The Left’s primary purpose is to attack our spiritual unity, our common loves. They want to destroy the affections that link us and substitute entirely different ideals,” Hawley said in his speech.
“The Left preaches its own gospel, a creed of intersectionality, deliverance from tradition, family, biological sex—and, of course, from God. They regard our fathers’ faith as a fetter to be broken.”
Crocker echoed similar sentiments in a May 2024 essay for The Catholic Thing, arguing that the left promotes selfishness rather than working toward the common good.
“Such liberalism has, of course, brought us the ‘Nones’—the rising tide of young people who profess no religion because they accept no reference points outside themselves,” Crocker wrote. “To them, faith and reason, history and philosophy, tradition and gratitude are all irrelevant. All that matters is ‘me.’”
It’s unclear how much influence, if any, Crocker had on Hawley’s speech. Communications consultants often assist political campaigns by writing speeches, conducting research, or shaping the campaign’s overall message.
Hawley has traditionally relied on the political consulting firm OnMessage for his campaigns, which provides services like fundraising, ad creation, and overall strategy.
Kyle Plotkin, a former chief of staff for Hawley and a partner at OnMessage, played a key role in the campaign. Plotkin did not respond to a voicemail regarding Crocker’s involvement.
While Crocker may have influenced Hawley’s message, there are clear areas where Crocker’s views seem more extreme than Hawley’s.
Both oppose abortion, but Hawley has stated he does not support a ban on abortion in cases of rape or incest, while Crocker has argued that abortion should be illegal in all cases. Crocker once compared abortion to child sacrifice, claiming that modern society is so fixated on self-identity that it allows people to sacrifice children to preserve their sense of self.
“Child sacrifice is hardly a new thing. Sacrificing children to idols is typical of pagan societies. Today’s idolatry of choice is making idols of ourselves,” he wrote. “Christianity abolished child sacrifice and the old idolatry. If we are to abolish child sacrifice again, we will need Christianity to triumph over the new idolatry.”
Hawley’s embrace of Christian nationalism has drawn concern from some Kansas City religious leaders. Jones, the Baptist pastor, worries that politicians could distort Christianity by entangling it with partisan politics.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat and Methodist pastor, emphasized that he has made a point to separate his religious beliefs from his role as a public official. He cited a past vote on riverboat gambling in Kansas City, even though the Methodist Church opposed it.
“The power of religion is limitless,” Cleaver said. “And if someone believes their actions are God-ordained, there’s very little they won’t do. You can justify a lot of bad things in the name of God.”
Did Crocker and Hawley Connect?
While Crocker has worked as a speechwriter, much of his career has been in publishing. In addition to his own writing, Crocker has worked as an editor at Regnery Publishing.
Regnery is also Hawley’s publisher, a connection that arose when Simon & Schuster canceled the publication of Hawley’s book The Tyranny of Big Tech after his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
It’s unclear whether Crocker and Hawley crossed paths through Regnery. A Regnery spokesperson stated that Crocker no longer works there, although he is set to publish Don’t Tread on Me, a history of the American military, in January 2024.
While there is a connection in the publishing world, Crocker’s work for Hawley’s campaign likely didn’t include any involvement in Hawley’s book.
Hawley is legally allowed to use campaign funds for a ghostwriter, but any profits from the book would have to go back to the campaign, not Hawley personally.
Hawley has already received up to $127,500 for the book under a royalty agreement made in 2023, according to Senate Financial Disclosure forms.