Rep. Paul Gosar’s sister has slammed the Arizona Republican for his “despicable” attack on Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and President Joe Biden over the weekend.
Jennifer Gosar, who often speaks out against her brother’s extremist politics, told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Monday that she was livid about the doctored anime video the lawmaker posted on social media that depicted him slashing the neck of an enemy with Ocasio-Cortez’s face and swinging a weapon at another represented by Biden.
“I would cry, I am so angry,” Jennifer Gosar said. She said her brother’s behavior had gotten worse “because he has not been held accountable in any way shape or form” and called for action from congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle and from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“Where are these people?” she asked. “Does he need to act on his sociopathic fantasy? For Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, I am very concerned for [her] and other members, and this is absolutely unacceptable.”
She excoriated Paul Gosar’s colleagues for failing to rein him in. “They leave it to family members to come forward in the public,” she said.
Jennifer Gosar said her brother’s post ― which a spokesperson had defended Monday as just “a cartoon” that “everyone needs to relax” about ― was a dangerous wink to his extreme supporters.
“What he is expounding upon in his sick fantasies is the fact that he cannot even approach the intellect of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez. He cannot respond with his word salad, and somehow meet her intelligence or her information,” she said. “So what he has to do is call out his ... brother and sisters, whoever they may be, and show them what he wishes, lest one of them act on it. It’s very concerning and he must be stopped.”
Paul Gosar released a lengthy statement Tuesday saying, “I do not espouse violence or harm towards any Member of Congress or Mr. Biden” and argued that the video was a “symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy.”
He has nine siblings, six of which publicly endorsed his Democratic opponent in the 2018 midterms in a series of attack ads questioning their brother’s fitness for office.
The far-right lawmaker and anti-immigration hardliner has repeatedly been linked to white supremacists and the organizers of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
His sister joined a growing chorus calling for accountability Monday. On Tuesday, high-profile Democrats including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.) chimed in. The White House also formally condemned the video.
Pelosi called on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) to condemn the video and open an Ethics Committee and law enforcement investigation. The Republican leader has previously skirted denouncing Paul Gosar even after he delivered a keynote speech at a white nationalist conference earlier this year.
McCarthy’s office did not return multiple requests for comment.