In a hate-filled attack over social media, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona has posted an anime-style video clip in which he attacks President Biden and kills his co-worker, fellow member of the House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Dartunorro Clark of NBC News reported that “Twitter added a warning label Monday, Nov. 9, to a tweet from a Republican lawmaker that depicted an animated killing of Ocasio-Cortez and an attack on President Joe Biden — saying the post violated the company’s rules about ‘hateful conduct.’”
Despite the new warning at the top of the tweet, the company has also decided that his post wouldn’t be deleted and can stay accessible due to “public interest.”
According to Clark, “Gosar shared an altered video Sunday evening in which he and other Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, are depicted as heroes from the Japanese anime series Attack on Titan.”
The popular post-apocalyptic series is based around a small revolutionary group that battles against giant creatures called titans. In Gosar’s video, the face of Ocasio-Cortez has been superimposed onto one of the titans. Another character, modified to look like Gosar, goes on to kill that titan and violently attack another featuring the face of President Biden.
While the White House has yet to respond to Gosar’s tweet, Ocasio-Cortez was quick to fight back over Twitter, calling the Arizona lawmaker “creepy” and complaining that Republican lawmakers continue to tolerate his childish and harmful racist behavior.
“[Gosar] will face no consequences because [Rep. Kevin McCarthy] cheers him on with excuses,” she said. “Fun Monday! Well, back to work because institutions don’t protect women of color.”
So while I was en route to Glasgow, a creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me
And he’ll face no consequences bc @GOPLeader cheers him on with excuses.
Fun Monday! Well, back to work bc institutions don’t protect woc https://t.co/XRnMAKsnNO
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 9, 2021
Rep. Eric Swalwell of California also criticized Gosar for his actions, tweeting “Happy Monday in America, where McCarthy’s colleague just posted a video of himself swinging two swords at President Biden. These blood-thirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them.”
Happy Monday in America, where @GOPLeader McCarthy’s colleague just posted a video of himself swinging two swords at President Biden. These blood thirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them. https://t.co/nlmEW9EHB4 pic.twitter.com/5BI895zvLG
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) November 8, 2021
Rep. Ted Lieu, also of California, called out Gosar’s “sick behavior” and tweeted: “In any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired.”
This is sick behavior from Rep. Paul Gosar. He tweeted out the video showing him killing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez from both his official account and personal account. In any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired. pic.twitter.com/0ygBfE6bEL
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 9, 2021
As Clark pointed out, Gosar continues to be a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump and has repeatedly downplayed the impact of the attempted insurrection on the Capitol on Jan. 6. In 2018, six of his siblings took part in an advertisement run by his congressional opponent saying Gosar needed to be removed from office due to his erratic, racist and discriminatory views.
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