House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) believes the appropriate response to Rep. Paul Gosarâs (R-Ariz.) decision to share a controversial anime video would have been to expel him from Congress.
âWhen someone sends out a tweet or any other illustration of him or her murdering somebody on the House floor. That, to me, goes far beyond the pale. And that person should not even be a member of this body,â Clyburn told CNN on Wednesday morning.
Clyburn went on to note that two of Gosarâs estranged siblings have called for him to be kicked out of Congress while others have urged voters not to reelect him. The South Carolina Congressman added, âI think it would have been the right thing to do to move to expel him.â
Watch the video below:
On Nov. 8, Gosar shared the controversial video, as IJR reported.
He tweeted, âAny anime fans out there?â
The video depicts Gosar attacking Ocasio-Cortez and running toward Biden with swords.
Clyburnâs comments come as the House is slated to vote on a resolution that would censure Gosar and strip him of his committee assignments.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told CNN, âHe took the video down, and he made a statement that he doesnât support violence to anybody. Nobody should have violence .â
âI called him when I heard about the video, and he made a statement that he doesnât support violence, and he took the video down.â
However, the network noted McCarthy did ânot directly condemn Gosarâs behavior.â
During his appearance on CNN on Wednesday, Clyburn criticized Congressional Republicans for being âtotally silentâ about Gosarâs tweet. He said, âWhat is that about? I just donât understand how we can, as members of Congress, expect for the public to respect us when we donât demonstrate the respect ourselves.â
