The White House on Tuesday condemned a video shared by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) that depicted the congressman and other lawmakers violently attacking President Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
“There is absolutely no place for any violence of any sort in this political system,” White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said when asked about Twitter’s handling of the post. “I don’t want to go any further than that. I leave it to the social media platform for how they’re going to move forward on that. But there is no place for any type of violence or that type of language in the political system.”
Gosar has been widely condemned since he tweeted an animated video on Monday depicting himself and other Republicans as warriors fighting against Democrats, interspersed with footage of migrants arriving at the U.S. southern border.
The video features characters from a Japanese-style anime series, their faces replaced with pictures of Gosar and two other conservative firebrands — Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — who bound around with various weapons.
In one scene, Gosar’s character executes another character, doctored to depict Ocasio-Cortez, by striking her in the back of the neck with a sword. In another, Gosar confronts Biden head-on with two swords drawn.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) earlier Tuesday called for criminal and ethics investigations into Gosar over the post.
“Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated,” Pelosi tweeted Tuesday. “@GOPLeader should join in condemning this horrific video and call on the Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate.”
Twitter has flagged Gosar’s tweet, citing it for violating its rules about hateful conduct. But the post has remained up, with the platform determining it may be in the public interest for it to remain accessible.