On November 17, 2021, Rep. Paul Gosar arrives to his office on Capitol Hill. The House is expected to vote later today on a resolution that would censure Gosar and remove him from the committee.
The House is expected to censure Gosar and strip him of his committee assignments for posting a video that depicted him killing a lawmaker and swinging swords at the president.
Nancy Pelosi said Gosar's video is a threat to be addressed immediately.
"I'm so pleased that our members understand that this is central to our work in Congress, that means protecting the integrity of the House, of the institution, but also the lives of our members," Pelosi told reporters on Capitol Hill.
She slammed the GOP for not acting on the video, calling it "outrageous" on the part of the leadership.
The censure of Gosar would be the 24th in the chamber's history and the first in more than a decade.
Censure is the most severe punishment in the House. It requires a simple majority to pass. Gosar would have to stand in the center of the chamber as the resolution condemning his conduct is read.
Gosar is on the Oversight and Reform Committee and the House Natural Resources Committee.
The Georgia lawmaker was removed from her committee assignments for spreading violent conspiracy theories.
Gosar shared the edited video on his official social media channels.
It featured a scene from the Japanese series "Attack on Titan," with Gosar's face superimposed on a character with two swords and attacking giant characters with their faces. There were images of Border Patrol officers with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The video has been deleted.
Gosar did not apologize for the video and called it a metaphor for immigration policy.
Gosar said in a statement last week that he did not advocate violence or harm towards any member of Congress or Mr. Biden.
Gosar said that the video is a representation of a fight over immigration policy.
The resolution to censure Gosar was first introduced by a group of Democratic lawmakers.
The group drew a connection between Gosar's video and the riots at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
The resolution referred to Republicans' actions. Kevin McCarthy's initial silence on the matter wastacit approval and dangerous.
McCarthy addressed Gosar's video for the first time in a statement.
He took the video down and made a statement that he doesn't support violence. McCarthy told CNN that nobody should have violence against them. I called him after I heard about the video, and he made a statement that he doesn't support violence, and he took the video down.
The majority of Republican members have not commented on the video. The resolution received the support of at least two congressmen, Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois.
The only Republicans on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riots are Cheney and Kinzinger.
In an interview with the Associated Press last week, Cheney said Gosar should be censured for his "continued indefensible activities." She also criticized McCarthy for his initial silence, calling it a "real symbol of his lack of strength."
The idea that our leader will not stand against the killing of another member, but that he's somehow going after and allowing attacks against 13 members who are conducting themselves in, is something that you've got an avowed white nationalist in Rep. Gosar who has posted a video advocating the
The 13 GOP lawmakers who voted for the bipartisan infrastructure bill have faced backlash from their Republican colleagues and even death threats from the public because of their votes.
Kinzinger said he would vote yes on the censure resolution.
We have to hold Members accountable for their actions. The failure to do so will take us one step closer to fantasized violence becoming real.
Gosar has a history of engaging with white nationalist groups.
He attended a white nationalist conference in February hosted by "American First" leader Nick Fuentes, who is known for pushing racist and anti-semitic rhetoric.
Gosar told the Washington Post that he attended the event to reach a younger conservative voter base and that he denounced white racism.
Gosar attended a "Trumpstock" rally in Golden Valley in late 2019.
He called the rioters of the Capitol "political prisoners" and pushed conspiracy theories about the deadly white-nationalist rally in Virginia.
