Democrat-allied Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Liz Cheney (R-WY) both voted to censure and remove Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) from his Oversight and Reform and Natural Resources committee seats.
Kinzinger and Cheney were the only so-called Republicans to vote against the Democrat motion. Establishment Republican Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) voted present.
Democrats accused Gosar of inciting violence for tweeting a video that depicted an anime character killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
The House votes to censure Rep. Paul Gosar R-AZ. Cheney & Kinzinger are the only Republicans to support the measure. pic.twitter.com/ZCLL75s0X3
— Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) November 17, 2021
“Does anyone in this chamber find this behavior acceptable?” Ocasio-Cortez said while looking at the Republican side of the House chamber before the vote.
“I do not espouse violence towards anyone. I never have,” Gosar responded to the accusation. “It was not my purpose to make anyone upset.”
“There is no threat in the cartoon other than the threat of immigration,” Gosar said Wednesday.
“If I must join Alexander Hamilton, the first person attempted to be censured by this House, so be it,” he said. “It is done.”
The vote reportedly represents the first censure of a sitting member in more than ten years and the twenty-forth in history.
David Joyce, Republican of Ohio, told me he voted PRESENT on Gosar resolution because he said the House Ethics Committee is meeting to discuss the Gosar tweet and video. He serves on the committee
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) November 17, 2021
After the vote, Cheney told reporters, “The glorification of the suggestion of the killing of a colleague is completely unacceptable. And I think that it’s a clear violation of House rules.”
While Kinzinger announced his retirement after voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, Cheney appears to be running for reelection against Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman, a lawyer from Cheyenne, Wyoming.
WATCH: Complete remarks by Rep. Paul Gosar (@RepGosar) during House debate on his censure.
"I do not espouse violence towards anyone. I never have. It was not my purpose to make anyone upset." pic.twitter.com/a6JI4xxqgt
— CSPAN (@cspan) November 17, 2021
Much to Cheney’s embarrassment, the Wyoming Republican Party voted on Saturday to no longer recognize Cheney as a Republican. The vote is likely to mount a challenge for the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s reelection hopes.
“Well, I won the majority of the non-Hageman vote, so I’m proud of that,” Cheney said after the Saturday vote.
Cheney voted to impeach Trump in 2021 and to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress Friday.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø
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