A group of House Democrats plans to introduce a resolution condemning Rep. Paul Gosar for tweeting an edited video depicting an animated version of himself murdering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden.
In the video posted to his social media channels Sunday evening, Gosar, an Arizona Republican, and other GOP lawmakers were depicted as characters from the Japanese anime series Attack on Titan, while Ocasio-Cortez and Biden’s faces were edited on to those of the show’s villains. Twitter later added a warning label to the tweet, which Gosar posted with the caption: “Any anime fans out there?” It has since been removed.
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Rep. Jackie Speier, a co-chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, and nine of her Democratic colleagues said Wednesday night in a joint statement that they plan to file the censure resolution Friday.
“For a Member of Congress to post a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden is a clear cut case for censure,” the statement said. “For that Member to post such a video on his official Instagram account and use his official congressional resources in the House of Representatives to further violence against elected officials goes beyond the pale.”
The members said the deadly riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6 showed “such vicious and vulgar messaging can and does foment actual violence.”
“Violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life, with women of color disproportionately impacted,” they added. “Minority Leader McCarthy’s silence is tacit approval and just as dangerous.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for the House Ethics Committee and federal law enforcement to review Gosar’s post. McCarthy has yet to comment.
In a Tuesday statement, Gosar refused to apologize for posting the video, saying, “It is a symbolic cartoon. It is not real life.”
Censure is the harshest form of disciplinary action in the House short of expulsion, and it can pass with a simple majority in a floor vote. After a censure vote is passed, the member is required to stand at the “well” of the House chamber and receive a verbal rebuke and reading of the resolution by the speaker.
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The drastic step is relatively rare. The last lawmaker to be censured was former Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat, for breaking ethics rules. Pelosi, who was the speaker at the time, oversaw that vote.
