Arizona Republican Paul Gosar drew backlash on Monday after tweeting an edited anime video showing him killing New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden, The Washington Post reports.
Gosar, who frequently makes controversial statements and posts a barrage of memes on his Twitter account, published a video of his face imposed on a character in the series “Attack on Titan” along with fellow Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, as they attack characters with Democrats’ faces edited onto them.
Twitter flagged the post for violating its rules against “hateful conduct” but left the post up behind a disclaimer.
“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,” the disclaimer says.
“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,” a Twitter spokesperson told the Post.
Gosar defends:
Jessica Lycos, Gosar’s digital director, downplayed the controversy.
“Everyone needs to relax,” she said in a statement to the Post.
“We made an anime video,” she said. “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.”
AOC fires back:
Ocasio-Cortez fired back at Gosar as a “collection of wet toothpicks” and a “creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me.”
Gosar will “face no consequences bc @GOPLeader cheers him on with excuses,” she tweeted. “Fun Monday! Well, back to work bc institutions don’t protect [women of color].”
California Rep. Ted Lieu called the tweet “sick behavior.”
“In any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired,” he tweeted.
“Happy Monday in America, where @GOPLeader McCarthy’s colleague just posted a video of himself swinging two swords at President Biden,” added California Rep. Eric Swalwell. “These blood thirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them.”
