Reuters
- House Democrats are planning to censure Rep. Paul Gosar over an edited video depicting him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
- Gosar responded to the backlash on the video, calling the negative response a “gross mischaracterization” of the post.
- On Thursday, House Democrats condemned the video, saying the post “is a clear cut case for censure.”
House Democrats are introducing a resolution to censure Rep. Paul Gosar over an edited anime video depicting him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The video posted to Gosar’s Twitter account earlier this week featured a scene from the animated series “Attack on Titan,” with Gosar’s face edited onto a character bearing two swords and subsequently killing a giant superimposed with Ocasio-Cortez’s face.
Gosar faced backlash for the tweet, and on November 9, he released a statement confirming that his office produced the video and called the negative response a “gross mischaracterization” of the post.
“I do not espouse violence or harm towards any member of Congress or Mr. Biden,” Gosar wrote.
On Thursday, House Democrats condemned the video, saying that posting the manipulated video “depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden is a clear cut case for censure.”
“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, ” they said in a statement.
“As the events of January 6th have shown, such vicious and vulgar messaging can and does foment actual violence,” the members of Congress continued. “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. Minority Leader McCarthy’s silence is tacit approval and just as dangerous.”
The resolution is co-sponsored by Reps. Jackie Speier, Jim Cooper, Brenda Lawrence, Sylvia Garcia, Veronica Escobar, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Rashida Tlaib, Eric Swalwell, Nikema Williams, and Ayanna Pressley, according to the statement. They plan to introduce the resolution on Friday.
The announcement comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to condemn the video and asked the “Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate.”
“Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated,” Pelosi tweeted Tuesday.
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