Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) is putting Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) on blast after the far-right Republican posted a graphic anime-style video of him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and attacking President Joe Biden on social media earlier this week.
In an Associated Press interview published on Friday, Cheney asserted that Gosar ought to be censured for “his continued indefensible activities.”
The Wyoming Republican also took aim at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), her former colleague in GOP leadership, for refusing to speak out against Gosar after the Arizona lawmaker posted the video on Monday.
“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,” Cheney told the AP.
On Friday, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) announced that she and 60 other Democrats had formally introduced a resolution to censure Gosar.
“We cannot continue to normalize violence against POTUS and members of the House,” Speier tweeted.
In addition to describing Gosar’s violent behavior, the three-page resolution slams GOP leadership for staying completely silent about the matter.
The resolution also cites the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection while arguing that “depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials.” Though the resolution didn’t reference it outright, Gosar was one of the three Trump fanatics in Congress who participated in the D.C. rally that preceded the insurrection.
Gosar’s video appears to have been deleted. However, the congressman refused to apologize and has in fact defended the video, insisting on Tuesday it was “truly a symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy” and wasn’t meant to espouse violence toward Ocasio-Cortez or Biden.
Additionally, Gosar has well-documented ties to white nationalism, which includes speaking at a far-right conference organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes in February.
Cheney criticized Gosar for his participation in the conference at the time.
“I’ve been very clear about the extent to which we have to stand against white supremacists, stand against anti-Semitism,” she said. “And that should not be part of our public discourse.”
