On Sunday, Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted a despicable anime video showing New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez being killed. The video also included two swords targeting President Joe Biden. While now removed by Twitter, Gosar has nevertheless defended it.
The silence from Republican leaders in Congress and conservatives, more generally, is inexcusable. If a Democrat tweeted a video of a Republican, such as Donald Trump, getting killed, Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Elise Stefanik, and Sen. Mitch McConnell would rightfully issue a condemnation. Right-wing special interests would join in that fury. Rightly so.
At least one serving Republican has condemned the video. Outgoing Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who I once had the privilege of interning for on Capitol Hill, tweeted on Tuesday night: “A party with leaders like Kevin McCarthy, that cannot stand up to the insanity from people like [Marjorie Taylor] Greene, [Matt] Gaetz, Gosar, etc, is going to have a hard time standing up to countries like China.”
Yes, Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are being hypocritical by condemning Gosar but giving a pass to bigotry on their own side, including from Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. But the video is just one example of Gosar’s history of extremism.
Gosar attended a far-right conference hosted by the antisemite and white nationalist Nick Fuentes in February. He was advertised in June as doing a fundraiser with Fuentes. A month before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Gosar told a crowd outside Arizona’s state Capitol that the election results could be overturned.
“Once we conquer the Hill,” he said, “Donald Trump is returned to being the president.”
Gosar should be censured and stripped of his committee assignments without delay.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
