Rep. Paul Gosar (R–Ariz.) appears to have deleted an altered anime video of himself killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking President Joe Biden after backlash from Democrats and even members of his own family.
Gosar shared the video on Monday of himself and Republican lawmakers, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.), depicted as heroes from the Japanese anime series “Attack on Titan.” The clip included footage of migrants and border patrol agents with animated scenes in which the words “drugs,” “crime,” “poverty,” “money,” “murder,” “gangs,” “violence” and “trafficking” appear on the screen.
Ocasio-Cortez’s face is superimposed on one of the Titans, who is killed by Gosar’s character. His character also attacks a Titan with Biden’s face.
The video angered Democrats who called for Twitter to suspend Gosar’s account. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) called for a criminal investigation into the congressman because of the video. Ocasio-Cortez issued a withering response to Gosar on Twitter calling him “a collection of wet toothpicks.”
Asked about the video White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “there is absolutely no place for any violence of any sort in this political system,” according to the Hill.
Jennifer Gosar, the lawmaker’s sister who urged residents in his district to vote against him also spoke out against her brother after he posted the video. She called him a “sociopath.”
Twitter flagged Rep. Gosar’s tweet Monday evening, saying it violated its policy on “hateful conduct.” However, the post remained accessible for the “public interest.” The post was gone by Tuesday evening.
A Twitter spokesperson told The Hill in a statement that “the only enforcement action we took on the Tweet was placing a public interest notice on it for violating our hateful conduct policy.”
Gosar defended the tweet in a statement on Tuesday saying: “The video depicts the fight taking place next week on the House floor and symbolizes the battle for the soul of America when Congress takes up Mr. Biden’s massive $4 trillion spending bill that includes amnesty for millions of illegal aliens already in our country and was not meant to depict any harm or violence against anyone portrayed in the anime. This video is truly a symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy.”
Gosar’s digital director, Jessica Lycos, also stood by the tweet, telling the Washington Post, “We made an anime video. Everyone needs to relax. The left doesn’t get meme culture. They have no joy. They are not the future. It’s a cartoon. Gosar can’t fly and he does not own any light sabers. Nor was violence glorified. This is about fighting for truth.”
