House Democrats plan to introduce a resolution to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar for tweeting an anime-style video depicting violence against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Biden.
In a statement released Wednesday, 10 Democratic lawmakers led by Rep. Jackie Speier of California said “such vicious and vulgar messaging” like that contained in Mr. Gosar’s tweet “can and does foment actual violence.”
“For a Member of Congress to post a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Biden is a clear cut case for censure,” the lawmakers said.
The video featured an altered version of a Japanese anime spliced with footage of Border Patrol officers and immigrants at the southern border, coupled with scenes of Republican lawmakers, including Mr. Gosar, attacking Democratic figures.
Twitter flagged the tweet as “hateful content” after Mr. Gosar posted it Sunday, and Democratic lawmakers were quick to call out the post.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez of New York called Mr. Gosar of Arizona “creepy” in response to the tweet.
Rep. Ted Lieu, California Democrat, called the posting “sick behavior.”
“He tweeted out the video showing him killing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez from both his official account and personal account,” Mr. Lieu said. “In any workplace in America, if a coworker made an anime video killing another coworker, that person would be fired.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, called on the House Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate the matter.
“Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated,” she said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Mr. Gosar defended the post claiming his aim was not to “espouse violence or harm towards any member of Congress or Mr. Biden.”
“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,” the Arizona Republican said.
“This video is truly a symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy,” Mr. Gosar said.
Ms. Speier was joined by Reps. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, Brenda Lawrence and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar of Texas, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Eric Swalwell of California, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Nikema Williams of Georgia in announcing the measure to censure Mr. Gosar.
The Democrats said they will introduce the measure on the House floor Friday.
• Tom Howell Jr. contributed to this story.
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.