House, Mostly Along Party Lines, Censures Gosar for Violent Video
House, Mostly Along Party Lines, Censures Gosar for Violent Video
The Arizona Republican is the first member of the House to be formally rebuked in more than a decade. He was also removed from two committees.
WASHINGTON — A bitterly divided U.S. House of Representatives voted narrowly on Wednesday to censure Representative Paul Gosar, Republican of Arizona, for posting an animated video that depicted him killing a Democratic congresswoman and assaulting President Biden.
The formal rebuke of the far-right congressman who has
allied himself with white nationalists — the first censure since 2010 and only
the 24th in the history of the republic — also stripped him of his committee assignments. The vast majority of Republicans opposed the move against Mr. Gosar, whose conduct G.O.P. leaders have refused to publicly condemn, the latest sign of the party’s growing tolerance of menacing statements.
The vote was 223 to 207, with just two Republicans, Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, joining Democrats in favor. One other Republican, Representative David Joyce of Ohio, voted “present.”
The vote, and the incendiary, emotional and personal debate leading up to it, laid bare the divisions of the moment, when Democrats say they must speak out against vicious threats and imagery that could give rise to the kind of violence that unfolded during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. That attack hung heavily over Wednesday’s debate.
Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York. Ms. Pelosi herself read out that rebuke, which passed overwhelmingly with the support of many Democrats.
The proceedings this time were starkly partisan, with Republicans rushing to Mr. Gosar’s defense. His offense was at once more trivial — the posting online of a crudely edited video drawn from a popular anime series — and more sinister. In his video, Mr. Gosar is depicted slashing the neck of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, amid imagery of violence meted out against hordes of refugees and migrants.
Mr. Gosar showed no remorse. On the contrary, he sat impassively in the chamber listening to most of the debate, and stood to tell the House in a defiant speech: “I reject the false narrative categorically.”
After the vote, Mr. Gosar appeared in the well of the House to receive his censure with a coterie of strident conservatives standing behind him. He did not speak, as Mr. Rangel had 11 years ago, but accepted handshakes and well wishes from the Republicans who rallied behind him.
During the debate, Republican lawmakers rose in turn to back Mr. Gosar. They complained of a debasement of the power to censure by Ms. Pelosi that they argued was of a piece with two impeachments of a Republican president, the rejection of Republicans chosen by G.O.P. leadership for the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and the House’s action earlier this year to strip another member of their party, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, of her committee assignments for offensive social media posts that predated her political career.
“She’s created precedents that are going to reverberate for decades to come,” said Representative Rodney Davis, Republican of Illinois, who added that Ms. Pelosi had “torn the fabric of this House apart.”
And many warned that a Republican majority — which could come as soon as 2023 — would not hesitate to take advantage of the precedents set by Democrats.
Mr. McCarthy singled out Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, whom he accused of fomenting violence when she spoke to racial justice protesters in Minneapolis last year, telling them to “get more confrontational.”
Ms. Greene recited a long list of potential targets that included Representatives Eric Swalwell of California, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Adam B. Schiff of California.
“They are really setting an ugly precedent, and the bad news for Democrats is that we’re going to take back the House and we’re going to hold the majority,” Ms. Greene said.
Tit-for-tat has precedent. Democrats moved quickly against Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997 for ethical lapses after Mr. Gingrich went after their speaker, Jim Wright, in 1989.
The video in question depicts more than just violence against elected Democrats. I
t is a slightly altered version of the opening sequence of the popular anime series “Attack on Titan,” in which humanity has been decimated and a few homogeneous survivors are living behind fortified walls, their insular elite manipulating youthful, idealistic warriors who defend the community against invading giants, known as titans.
In the clip, the face of Ms. Ocasio-Cortez is edited onto the body of an invading titan, and Mr. Gosar’s face is atop one of the manipulated warriors defending the besieged.
it was the opposite
