This week, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) — a torchbearer of the far-right and an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump — tweeted an edited, partly animated video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Although the post led to understandable outrage from observers, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) hadn’t even bothered to offer any comment at all as of early Tuesday, well after the video first emerged. Ocasio-Cortez did respond, however, publicly condemning McCarthy and the other prominent GOP’ers who have enabled disgraceful conduct like what Gosar undertook.
As Ocaiso-Cortez put it regarding Gosar, in part:
‘So while I was en route to Glasgow, a creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups shared a fantasy video of him killing me. And he’ll face no consequences [because] [McCarthy] cheers him on with excuses. Fun Monday! Well, back to work [because] institutions don’t protect [women of color]… This dude is… just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway. White supremacy is for extremely fragile people & sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself.’
Remember when Yoho accosted me on the the Capitol and called me a f—ing b—
Remember when Greene ran after me a few months ago screaming and reaching
Remember when she stalked my office the 1st time w/ insurrectionists & ppl locked inside
All at my job 🙃 & nothing ever happens
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 9, 2021
This dude is a just a collection of wet toothpicks anyway.
White supremacy is for extremely fragile people &sad men like him, whose self concept relies on the myth that he was born superior because deep down he knows he couldn’t open a pickle jar or read a whole book by himself
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 9, 2021
It’s worth noting that when past social media activity from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) re-emerged that indicated past support on her part for executions of prominent Democrats, it wasn’t even Republicans in the House who took action against her. Instead, taking action fell to the full House, which voted to remove Greene from her committee assignments. In the time since, she’s occupied herself with stunts like repeated visits to a D.C. jail where Capitol rioters have been held, and no matter the substantive issues related to jail conditions with which she could concern herself, she’s repeatedly seemed far more devoted to theatrics. Even Democrats raised concerns about the treatment of Capitol rioters in custody — but they didn’t need to show up at the jail with a camera crew of sorts in tow and bicker with staff to do so.
Although providing an environment where people like Gosar can feel emboldened to undertake their antics can be damaging enough, that’s not the only problem within the Republican Party. Donald Trump himself — a presumptive frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 — has publicly described the savage violence at the Capitol in January as merely a “protest.” Accepting and/or promoting violence is becoming the norm among Republicans.
