Pop quiz for group: In his spare time, one of your employees decided to create an animated video depicting a coworker’s murder. While it would be deeply disturbing regardless, it was extra distressing given the fact that the employee in question is the one doing the killing, with a sword, in the clip. Because he was extremely proud of this piece of art, he uploaded it to Twitter and Instagram to disseminate as far and wide as possible. Shortly thereafter, it showed up on the radar of the person whose death is shown and, to be honest, she was pretty freaked out about it, on account of the whole violent depiction of her death. Pretty reasonably, she requested that the guy responsible for the whole thing to face some sort of repercussion. Do you (a) Unequivocally condemn the matter and levy an appropriate punishment (b) demand a public and full-throated apology or (c) do nothing for a week and then give the guy a pass? If your name is Representative Kevin McCarthy, the answer is pretty obvious!
On Monday, more than a week after Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted the anime video showing him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after his spokesperson told AOC and others offended by it to “relax” and get over it, and after Gosar doubled down on its creation and sending it out into the universe, McCarthy…did the absolute bare minimum of telling CNN that he spoke by phone with Gosar last week, and noted, without directly condemning Gosar‘s actions, that the Arizona representative had removed the video after their conversation. “He took the video down and he made a statement that he doesn’t support violence to anybody. Nobody should have violence [against them],” McCarthy said. “I called him when I heard about the video, and he made a statement that he doesn’t support violence, and he took the video down.”
Of course, the idea that Gosar “doesn’t support violence” doesn’t hold up in light of the extremely violent video he promoted, or his reported support of the January 6 protests that preceded the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol. A serial killer can put out a statement saying he abhors murder, but just saying it doesn‘t make it so. Meanwhile, Gosar does not appear contrite in the slightest, having told CNN over the weekend that he finds the “faux outrage infantile and the hyperventilating and shrill accusations that this cartoon is dangerous to be laughable or intentionally hyperbolic” and insisting, “I am entitled to speak to the people and to do so in a manner that is engaging. Further, I have a right to speak to the younger generation in this country.”
Oh, and he also has decided that he is the real victim here. “While the degree of punishment differs, this is the same sentiment expressed against the Charlie Hebdo magazine in France in 2015 that was punished for publishing a cartoon—resulting in a real-life massacre of 12 real live people,” he said in a fully absurd email to CNN that appears to suggest that legitimate calls for him to be held accountable for his actions are akin to the terrorist attack on the satirical French magazine that left 12 people dead. (Incidentally, Charlie Hebdo was targeted for merely depicting the prophet Muhammad, while Gosar, again, shared a video in which he kills a colleague.)
On Tuesday, McCarthy defended Gosar to reporters, parroting the bullshit claim that it was “not his intent to show any harm.” He also reportedly told colleagues that Republicans must stand united and that Democrats don’t punish their own, citing Maxine Waters’s comment about needing to “get more confrontational” about police brutality which, again, is not at all the same thing. (As for Democrats not punishing their own, that line is, similarly, total bullshit.)
On Monday, AOC told reporters that punishing Gosar is something Democratic leadership is taking “very seriously,” criticizing McCarthy for not doing enough, saying, “It’s become very clear that the Republican leader, Kevin McCarthy, intends on doing nothing about it.” She also told PunchBowl she believes Gosar and other Republicans “are essentially using a national platform to legitimize threats of violence on lower levels, and on the local levels, to intimidate people from participating in our democracy. I believe this is part of a concerted strategy…. What we do here, our response, helps inform as a precedent for actions on the local levels.”
In a resolution to censure Gosar, which was introduced last week, a group of House Democrats said “violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life, with women of color disproportionately impacted.” They added that “vicious and vulgar messaging can and does foment actual violence,” citing the attack on the Capitol as an example. “The resolution was introduced because it crosses the line,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, who is leading the effort to censure Gosar, while speaking to CNN. “Congressman Gosar is inciting violence against a colleague—Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.” Thus far, the resolution has 78 cosponsors.
In related news, it appears McCarthy also apparently plans to do nothing to punish the lawmakers who viciously attacked the 13 Republicans who voted for Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, which led to literal death threats. Because the man is nothing if not consistent.
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