U.S. House prepares vote on censuring Republican who tweeted violent video targeting Democrat

[November 17, 2021]  By Moira Warburton and David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives prepared to take up a resolution on Wednesday to censure a Republican member for a Twitter post depicting himself killing a prominent progressive and attacking President Joe Biden with swords.

Prominent Republicans criticized the Democratic move to discipline Representative Paul Gosar for the video, even as some suggested they strip another Republican of his seat on a prominent House committee for his vote this month in favor of a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill to fix roads and bridges and expand broadband access.

Gosar posted an anime video this month that showed him killing Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It was the latest instance of escalating violent rhetoric in Congress, 10 months after thousands of Donald Trump supporters launched a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol.

The resolution, which appeared on the House Rules Committee website on Tuesday evening, also proposes to remove Gosar from the Committee on Oversight, where Ocasio-Cortez serves, and the Natural Resources Committee.

"Not talking," Gosar told reporters on Tuesday. He said last week he would fight for Trump's “America First agenda.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, told reporters: “Why go after (Gosar)? Because he made threats, suggestions about harming a member of Congress."

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) questions United States Park Police acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan during a U.S. House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 28, 2020. Bill Clark/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

"We cannot have members joking about murdering each other as well as threatening the president of the United States," Pelosi said.

Republican Representative Tom Cole said Gosar's action had been "inappropriate," but noted that Gosar had made a public statement saying the video was intended to be symbolic and that he had not intended to espouse violence. Gosar also told Republicans at a closed-door meeting earlier on Tuesday that he does not condone violence, Cole said.

"As far as I'm concerned that should have been the end of the matter," Cole told a meeting of the rules panel on Tuesday night, which was discussing the censure resolution ahead of floor action. The censure vote was planned for Wednesday, a congressional source said.

House Democrats stripped firebrand Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments this year for incendiary remarks that included support for violence against Democrats.

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