Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) is receiving backlash for a manipulated anime video he posted to Twitter, showing him attacking Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and President Joe Biden.
Gosar posted the video, adding, “Any anime fans out there?”
The video shows what appears to be Gosar as well as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) attacking a figure with Ocasio-Cortez’s face on it.
It goes on to depict Gosar as a character running toward Biden’s head with swords.
Images of other officials are shown at the end of the video, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Dr. Anthony Fauci and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Any anime fans out there? pic.twitter.com/TxX4qiJhOi
— Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) November 7, 2021
Twitter flagged the tweet, saying, “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about hateful conduct. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the video in a series of tweets, recalling other situations where she was harassed.
“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 [Kevin McCarthy] cheers him on with excuses. Fun Monday! Well, back to work bc institutions don’t protect woc,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.
She continued, “Remember when Yoho accosted me on the the Capitol and called me a f—ing b—. Remember when Greene ran after me a few months ago screaming and reaching. Remember when she stalked my office the 1st time w/ insurrectionists and ppl locked inside All at my job and nothing ever happens.”
Remember when Yoho accosted me on the the Capitol and called me a f—ing b—
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 9, 2021
Remember when Greene ran after me a few months ago screaming and reaching
Remember when she stalked my office the 1st time w/ insurrectionists & ppl locked inside
All at my job ? & nothing ever happens
Ocasio-Cortez continued to argue, “This dude is a just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway. White supremacy is for extremely fragile people and sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.”
This dude is a just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 9, 2021
White supremacy is for extremely fragile people &sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself
Several others took to Twitter to criticize Gosar for posting the video.
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
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
Rep. Gosar’s conduct is grotesque, dangerous and utterly disgraceful to the United States House of Representatives. We must address his intolerable assaults on the dignity of our body and safety of our colleagues. https://t.co/oR4qtIOjAt
— Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) November 8, 2021
This man should not serve in Congress. Fantasizing about violently attacking your colleagues has no place in our political discourse and society. https://t.co/tr2b4poD2m
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) November 9, 2021
A spokesperson for Twitter told The Hill, “We have placed a public interest notice on this Tweet as it violates our hateful conduct policy. As is standard with this notice, engagements with the Tweet will be limited. People will be able to Quote Tweet the Tweet, but will not be able to Like, Reply or Retweet it.”
