Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., sparked criticism on Monday after tweeting an altered animated video depicting the killing of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and an attack on President Joe Biden.
Gosar on Sunday evening shared a photoshopped video in which he and other Republican lawmakers, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, are depicted as heroes from the Japanese anime series “Attack on Titan.” The post-apocalyptic series revolves around a small civilization that lives in a bordered-off city to protect itself from giant human-like creatures called Titans.
Ocasio-Cortez’s face is superimposed on one of the Titans, who is killed by Gosar’s character.
His character also attacks a Titan with Biden’s face.
The White House and Ocasio-Cortez’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gosar is a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump and has been at the forefront of efforts to downplay the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The congressman made headlines in 2018 when six of his siblings appeared in an ad endorsing his congressional opponent. Gosar’s siblings later pressed for him to be removed from office for his fringe views.
“Happy Monday in America, where @GOPLeader McCarthy’s colleague just posted a video of himself swinging two swords at President Biden. These blood thirsty losers are more comfortable with violence than voting. Keep exposing them,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif, tweeted on Monday, tagging House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
The video, which Gosar also posted on Instagram, also appears to include footage of migrants at the U.S. southern border — similar to a 2018 ad tweeted by Trump.
In the video shared by Gosar, footage of migrants and border patrol agents is intermixed with animated scenes in which the words “drugs,” “crime,” “poverty,” “money,” “murder,” “gangs,” “violence” and “trafficking” appear on the screen.
Gosar and McCarthy’s offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment, nor did Greene’s or Boebert’s.
Twitter and Instagram did not immediately respond to questions about whether the video violates platform policies against glorifying violence.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
