Unrepentant Gosar RETWEETS his AOC 'murder' anime video moments AFTER House censured him and removed him from committees: Cheney and Kinzinger vote with Dems
Paul Gosar retweeted the offensive anime video that showed AOC being murdered just moments after becoming the 24th House member in history to be formally censured.
The Republican congressman, who represents Arizona, was censured by the House and had his two committee assignments stripped after he posted the doctored anime video that depicted himself killing New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) voted for its censure. Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio), a member of the House ethics committee, voted 'present.'
Moments after the vote, Gosar tweeted it again on Twitter, according to Newsweek.
He retweeted conservative podcaster Elijah Schaffer, who posted the 'murder' video within an hour of the House vote.
The new tweet was captioned by Schaffer: 'Really well done. We love @DrPaulGosar, don't we folks?'
Gosar's retweet was later removed.
Paul Gosar, who represents Arizona, was censured by the House and had his two committee assignments stripped after he posted a doctored anime video that depicted himself killing New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Gosar's tweet from last Sunday (pictured) featured a 92-second video with liberal US Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (AOC) face edited onto an amine clip and getting killed. It has since been taken down
Gosar on Twitter thanked his Republican colleagues 'for supporting me against the hysterical mob that is running the circus'.
He praised Representative Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) for railing against Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as a member of the 'Jihad Squad' during the floor debate, and described the vote as 'kabuki theater.'
'I was surrounded by members of Congress who reject the kabuki theater we saw,' Gosar tweeted.
'This was an historic first to be surrounded by members in the Well of the House in solidarity against the mob of censors. Everyone knows this censure was theater.'
The 223-207 vote came after AOC tore into House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Wednesday in an impassioned floor speech, as the body considered the censure resolution.
Following the vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi read the resolution aloud, with Gosar standing in the well of the chamber while backed by conservative Freedom Caucus members.
He was only the 24th member of Congress to be censured.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) lambasted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for being 'unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body,' after he opposed a resolution to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.)
'The House has resolved that Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona be censured, that representative Paul Gosar present yourself in the well of the House for the pronouncement of censure, that Representative Paul Gosasr be censured with the public reading of this resolution by the Speaker, and that Representative Paul Gosar be and is hereby removed from the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform,' Pelosi said.
Then she slammed down her gavel.
'That's it,' Pelosi could be heard saying when it was done, in a remark picked up by her mic.
The vote itself was not the climax of the day, with little doubt Democrats would prevail with their majority.
The most dramatic moment came when Ocasio-Cortez herself blasted McCarthy and Republicans for failing to confront Gosar over the incident.
'What is so hard? What is so hard about saying that this is wrong? This is not about me. This is not about Rep. Gosar. But this is about what we are willing to accept,' said Ocasio-Cortez.
'What I believe is unprecedented is for a member of House leadership of either party to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body,' she said.
'It's sad. It's a sad day.'
The chamber featured angry accusations, a bizarre historical analogy, and long lists of grievances against past officials for their own statements or transgressions.
It culminated with a speech by Ocasio-Cortez, whose face appears in the video Gosar posted days ago on his official Twitter account. Gosar attacks her with two swords, in a video he said in his defense on Wednesday was about illegal immigration.
The second-term lawmaker spoke immediately after McCarthy – who described the vote as a slippery slope – and threatened it sets a precedent where a variety of Democrats who have made inflammatory statements would be stripped of their committee assignments in the future.
'It's a sad day in which a member who leads a political party in the United States of America cannot bring themselves to say that issue of a depiction of murdering a member of Congress is wrong, [and] instead decides to venture off into a tangent about gas prices. And inflation. What is so hard?' she intoned.
'This nihilism runs deep,' she said.
'It conveys and betrays a certain contempt for the meaning and importance of our work here. That what we do, so long as we claim that it is a joke, doesn't matter. That what we say here doesn't matter. That our actions every day as elected leaders in the United States of America doesn't matter. That this chamber and what happens in it doesn't matter ... And I'm here to rise to say that it does.'
'Do you think that should happen on a school board?... And if it's not acceptable there, why should it be accepted here?' she said.
She called it part of a trend of 'of misogyny, and racial misogyny, racist misogyny.'
'What is so hard? What is so hard about saying that this is wrong?' Ocasio-Cortez said
'This is not about me. This is not about Representative Gosar. But this is about what we are willing to accept,' she said
Republican Representative from Arizona Paul Gosar defended the video and compared himself to Alexander Hamilton
She slammed McCarthy for failing to rein in his colleague, who didn't publicly apologize, and says he did not apologize to his conference.
'This is not about me. This is not about Representative Gosar. But this is about what we are willing to accept,' she said.
She spoke after McCarthy denounced the effort as a power grab.
He said repeatedly it was an example of 'Rules for thee, but not for me' by the Democrats, and pointed to inflammatory statements by House Democrats.
'It's about control. It's not about a standard that everybody lives by.'
Then he focused on the move to strip Gosar of his committee seats, and said the precedent being established by Speaker Nancy Pelosi could boomerang.
'Under the Pelosi precedent, all the members I mentioned will need the approval of a majority to keep those positions in the future,' he said.
His Democratic counterpart, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, rejected his claims.
'What Rep. Gosar did last week is not only worthy of censure. It demands it,' he said.
'No one, Democrat or Republican, ought to be allowed to engage in the promotion of violence against a fellow member or indeed a fellow American. Can't that appall you, even that act? Do you have no shame?' he said.
Pelosi herself said the threats 'specifically target a woman.'
She added: 'This is about workplace harassment and violence against women.'
Gosar rose to his own defense, countering claims against him by saying the video he posted was not dangerous or threatening, and not even bothering to address his committee posts or the historic nature of a censure.
'It was not my purpose to make anyone upset. I voluntarily took the cartoon, not because it was a threat, but because some thought it was,' Gosar said.
He said his staff posted the video, which he described as 'depicting a policy battle' over amnesty.
'Even Twitter, the left's mouthpiece, did not remove the cartoon,' he said, invoking the media platform's controversial policy.
'There is no threat in the cartoon other than the threat that immigration poses to our country,' he said.
Then he cast the effort to sanction him as ideological.
'No matter how much the left tries to quiet me, I will continue to speak out,' he said.
'If I must join Alexander Hamilton, the first person attempted to be censured by this House, so be it. It is done,' he said, walking away from a rostrum on the House floor.
Two Democrats picked up on his attempt to compare himself to Hamilton.
'It's ironic that Mr. Gosar compares himself to Alexander Hamilton, and another member condoned the stylized violence portrayed by Mr. Gosar, because Hamilton was actually killed by accepted high class violence in his day, in a duel,' said Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz.
'Mr. Gosar: you are no Alexander Hamilton,' said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.). 'You must be held accountable.'
Hamilton was serving as Washington's Treasury secretary when he was accused of mishandling loans.
Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), who backed the effort to impeach Donald Trump after the Jan. 6 riot, did not join the effort, although he released a statement saying Gosar has 'disgraced himself' in the past. He said it was a 'dumb anime clip' that was 'contemptible' but 'calling that video a death threat is an unreasonable exaggeration.
Several Democrats, including some who have suffered threats themselves, raised issues of political violence, while multiple Republicans defended Gosar, even if not the video itself.
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) was one of the few to slam the video outright, while opposing the censure effort.
'It was dumb. It was silly. It was stupid. It was mean-spirited. But you know what it's not? It's not incitement of violence. And when we use hyperbole and those words, we cause ourselves problems,' he said.
Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.) echoed the point. 'Is it inappropriate? Yes. Childish? Of course. Stupid? Without question. But is it a threat? Absolutely not.'
House Republicans began the task of defending Gosar, with Rules Committee Chairman Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) saying a move to strip Gosar's committee assignments 'tramples on the traditional norms of the House.'
Cole called the video itself 'certainly provocative, and in my opinion inappropriate,' but accused Democrats of trying to 'play politics with this moment.'
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the video 'vile, hateful, outrageous, dangerous and inciting to violence against a colleague.'
'This may be a criminal act as well as an act that certainly brings dishonor to the House of Representatives,' Hoyer told reporters Tuesday.
'That we would get to this low level of actions with colleagues, it's totally unacceptable, and action must be taken.'
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) on the House floor blasted the video as 'fantasized violence' that could have a real world effect.
'This Congress knows what happens when members of the radical right get stirred up by their leaders. Just a few month ago, this Congress had to hide in safe rooms under the protection of police and soldiers,' she said in a reference to January 6th - and on a day 'QAnon shaman' Jacob Chansley was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the Capitol riot.
Gosar joins a group that includes a list of confederates censured for disloyalty to the union, lawmakers who sold appointments, people who used 'unparliamentary language,' and one lawmaker who violated a 'gag rule' by speaking in favor of a slave rebellion (see chart below).
Gosar, 62, told 'The Stew Peters Show' Tuesday: 'I did not apologize. This video had nothing to do with harming anybody.
'It's exactly what you're talking about. It's an anime. You are trying to reach out to the newer generation that likes these anime, these cartoons fabricated in Japanese likeness to actually tell them what is harmful in this bill [Biden's Build Back Better plan] that they're missing.'
The last member to be so censured was longtime New York Rep. Charles Rangel, who was stripped of his powerful Ways and Means Committee after a long fight that culminated in the censure, over misuse of congressional letterhead for fundraising and filing inaccurate financial reports and tax returns.
Speaking behind closed doors on Tuesday, Gosar reportedly said he had not seen the violence before it was posted, and that he was trying to reach a younger audience. He sent the video on his official Twitter account.
The censure resolution notes that defense as one of its clauses, which highlighted violence against women.
'Whereas, on November 7, 2021, Representative Paul Gosar posted a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joseph Biden,' it begins.
It states that 'depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials,' and references the January 6 riot.
'Whereas 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,' the resolution states.
Democrats could pass it on a simple majority.
One Republican, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), said before the vote that Gosar should be censured 'for his continued indefensible activities.'
She sits on the House Select Committee on Jan. 6th.
'That is an insult, not only endangerment of that member of Congress, but an insult to the institution of the House of Representatives,' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Tuesday.
'We cannot have members joking about murdering each other, as well as threatening the President of the United States,' she said.
Events at Tuesday night's Rules Committee hearing foreshadowed a tense debate.
'What do you stand for? Do you stand for violence against women, or do you stand against it?' asked Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.).
'It's almost as if we've elevated this and made it more of a problem than it ever was,' said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Tex.).
Republicans also complained that the matter didn't go before the bipartisan House Ethics Committee.
The resolution stripped Gosar of his seat on the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, where Ocasio-Cortez also sits.
The resolution is authored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who survived the Jonestown massacre and came forward in 2017 to describe being sexually assaulted as a young congressional staffer.
The altered anime video shows a jetpack equipped Gosar attacking AOC with a sword
The video shows Gosar attacking Rep. Ocasio-Cortez with a sword
During a closed-door G.O.P. conference meeting, Gosar said he did not support violence against members of Congress and had removed the video after criticism.
'It was not his intent to ever harm anybody,' House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told reporters afterwards, according to The Hill.
And Politico reported Gosar told his colleagues that he didn't intend to encourage violence, but was trying to appeal to 'a younger audience.'
'McCarthy told members at conference that Rs should be united on this & that Dems don't punish their own for comments,' tweeted reporter Olivia Beavers.
But the controversy comes amid a rise in threats to lawmakers, who feel particularly vulnerable in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.
The video shows a sword-wielding character with Gosar's superimposed face using a jetpack to soar onto a rooftop before attacking Ocasio-Cortez, striking her with the weapon as blood flies out of her.
'The cartoon depicts the symbolic nature of a battle between lawful and unlawful policies and in no way intended to be a targeted attack against Representative Cortez or Mr. Biden,' said Gosar last week.
'It is a symbolic cartoon. It is not real life. Congressman Gosar cannot fly.'
Gosar is a close ally of former President Trump's and embraced his false claims that the election was stolen from him.
The original video is from the Japanese anime series Attack on Titan, a violent series where the protagonist and his allies kill titans with human forms. But the doctored version includes Biden and Ocasio-Cortez's faces projected on to villains.
Ten Democrats introduced a resolution to censure Gosar.
'As the events of January 6th have shown, 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 said.
Liz Cheney, dumped out of a party leadership role earlier this year for her opposition to former President Trump, accused McCarthy of lacking strength after he failed to condemn Gosar immediately.
'In a moment where you've got an avowed white nationalist in Rep. Gosar who has posted a video advocating the killing of another member, the idea that our leader will not stand against that but that he's somehow going after and allowing attacks against 13 members who are conducting themselves in a serious and substantive way is really outrageous,' she told the Associated Press.
Pelosi has gone even further, calling on the House Ethics Committee and federal law enforcement to investigate Gosar.
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