On Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) delivered an impassioned speech as she called to her fellow House members on Wednesday to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for posting an anime video that depicted him killing her and swinging swords at President Biden. She also condemned GOP leader Kevin McCarthy for failing to reject threats of violence.
Ocasio-Cortez spoke moments after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that Democrats were setting a bad precedent and threatened to censure or take away Democrats’ committee assignments if they win back the House majority.
“In response to Republican leader remarks when he says that this action is unprecedented, I believe is unprecedented for a member of House leadership of either party, to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body. It is sad,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“It is a sad day in which a member who leaves a political party in the United States of America cannot bring themselves to say, issuing a depiction of murdering a member of Congress is wrong. Instead, sides can venture off into a tangent about gas prices and inflation. What is so hard? What’s hard about saying this is wrong?,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
This is not about me. This is not about representative Gosar. But this is about what we are willing to accept,” she declared.
The New York Democrat also rejected Gosar’s claims that the video was “symbolic” of the debate over immigration, arguing that fantasizing about murdering a political opponent still has real-life consequences.
“I have seen other members of this party advance the argument, including Rep. Gosar himself, the illusion, that this was just a joke. That what we say and what we do does not matter so long as we claim a lack of meaning,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Now, this nihilism runs deep. And it conveys and betrays a certain contempt for the meaning and importance of our work here. That we do, so long as we claim that it is a joke, doesn’t matter. That what we say here doesn’t matter. That our actions every day as elected leaders in the United States of America doesn’t matter. That this chamber and what happens in it doesn’t matter. And I am here to rise to say that it does,” she continued.
“Our work here matters. Our example matters. There is meaning in our service. And as leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country. And that is where we must draw the line, independent of party, identity or belief,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
FOllowing Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, Gosar defended the video and said it “directly contributes to the understanding and the discussion of the real-life battle resulting from this administration’s open-border policies.” But he did not apologize for the video.
Watch Ocasio-Cortez’s speech below:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "It is a sad day in which a member who leads a political party…cannot bring themselves to say that issuing a depiction of murdering a member of Congress is wrong."
"What is so hard about saying that this is wrong?" https://t.co/Bi6Iwu42Tp pic.twitter.com/vh3qf4PsxX
— ABC News (@ABC) November 17, 2021
