All Democrats and two Republicans voted for an official disapproval (223-207), a severe sentence that has only been handed down to congressmen a few times before. The disapproval is the toughest measure the House can take before someone is removed from office.
Attacked with sword
Gosar is a supporter of former President Donald Trump and one of the most far-right congressmen. On November 8, he posted the 90-second video to Twitter. It was a Japanese cartoon showing Gosar and other conservative Republicans fighting with various characters.
One of the opponents was progressive MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was attacked in the neck with a sword. Then a character who resembled US President Joe Biden was attacked.
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President and top Democrat Nancy Pelosi immediately responded on Twitter by saying that “threats of violence against members of Congress and the US president will not be tolerated”. Gosar himself did not think the video was violent. He said several times that it was a “symbolic cartoon”. “It’s not real life,” he stated.
The tweet has since been deleted after Twitter labeled the video “hateful”.
Harassment
Pelosi also said before the vote that “this is about harassment at work and violence against women”. She blamed Gosar for never apologizing. “It’s a cartoon, really?” said Pelosi.
“This isn’t about me or Gosar, this is about what we still want to accept,” Ocasio-Cortez said in the video. “Why is it so hard to say this is wrong?” she wondered aloud. Watch Ocasio-Cortez’s response here:
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