GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, of Arizona, is finally speaking out about a video he sent to a white nationalist-organized event, and he is blaming his staff for his participation in the event.
The QAnon-aligned lawmaker told Politico in an interview that he was not supposed to appear via video at the far-right organizer Nick Fuentes’s America First Political Action Conference in March and claimed that his “welcome video” was supposed to be used by multiple organizations. He blamed his appearance at the event on “miscommunication” with his staff.
“We’re kind of short-handed,” Gosar told the outlet. “And there was a miscommunication.”
Gosar and far-right congresswoman Majorie Taylor-Greene faced fierce backlash within their own party after attending the conference. Greene went in-person to the Orlando event.
“There’s no place in our party for any of this,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said at the time.
Gosar told Politico the prerecorded video was meant to go to groups such as Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“The young people that were being misled by somebody — we should be trying to mentor, trying to change them. I’ve given up … on dealing with Nick. Nick’s got a problem with his mouth,” Gosar said, according to Politico.
Meanwhile, Greene claimed that while she agreed to participate in the event, she did not know Fuentes’s views.
