- Former President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Paul Gosar for reelection on Thursday.
- His support comes after the House voted to censure Gosar for sharing an anime of him killing AOC.
- Gosar refused to apologize and was stripped of his committee assignments for sharing the video.
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Rep. Paul Gosar, a day after the embattled Arizona congressman was censured by the House of Representatives for sharing an edited, violent anime video, which portrayed him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
"Congressman Paul Gosar has been a loyal supporter of our America First agenda, and even more importantly, the USA," Trump said in his statement on Thursday. "Paul is a Congressman who is highly respected in Arizona, strong on Crime, Borders, our Military, and our Veterans. He continually fights for Lower Taxes, Less Regulations, and our great, but under siege, Second Amendment. Paul Gosar has my Complete and Total Endorsement!"
—Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) November 18, 2021
On November 7, Gosar posted an "Attack on Titan" spoof, entitled "Attack of Immigrants," to Twitter, splicing an anime character with Gosar's face, and showing his character killing a giant with Ocasio-Cortez's face.
The clip, which runs for a minute and a half, shows footage of Gosar, migrants and immigration officials, and Trump, spliced with clips from the original anime.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted 223-207 in support of a Democrat-led resolution that censured Gosar and stripped him of his committee assignments for sharing the video. All Democrats voted for the measure alongside two Republicans, Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
In 2020, Gosar was reelected as a representative for Arizona's 4th congressional district with over 60% of the vote.
Insider reached out to Rep. Gosar's office for additional comment.
Ocasio-Cortez spoke out when Gosar initially shared the video, calling him a "creepy member I work with who fundraises for Neo-Nazi groups" who shared a "fantasy video" of himself killing her.
"As leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country," Ocasio-Cortez said on Wednesday as lawmakers debated the resolution. "That is where we must draw the line."
Gosar, supported by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, doubled down during the vote, refusing to apologize and saying that his video was not a threat and only meant to comment on immigration.
GOP Rep. Liz Cheney said that Republican leadership has "lost their moral compass" for not speaking out against the video.
Later, after the censure vote on Wednesday, Gosar re-tweeted the AOC video and shared a video message on the social media platform Gettr thanking his supporters.