U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday urged investigations into an anime video tweeted by Republican congressman Paul Gosar that depicted him swinging swords at President Joe Biden and killing Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
“Threats of violence against Members of Congress and the President of the United States must not be tolerated,” Pelosi said in a statement on Twitter.
She added that House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy “should join in condemning this horrific video and call on the Ethics Committee and law enforcement to investigate.”
McCarthy’s office did not respond to Reuters queries seeking comment on the 90-second video.
Twitter added a warning label to the 90-second video, saying it violated its “hateful conduct” policy. It also restricted engagement with the tweet, blocking the ability to like, reply or retweet the video, which also contained live footage of migrant crossings and Border Patrol officers at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gosar, an Arizona Republican, remained defiant.
“I will always fight for the rule of law, securing our borders and defending the America First agenda,” Gosar said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
Ocasio-Cortez had responded to Gosar’s tweet with a Twitter thread noting the video posted by a “creepy member I work with,” and said she expected no consequences for Gosar from the House Republican leader.
Other Democrats called for Gosar to leave office. “This man should not serve in Congress,” Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar said.
The 90-second video shared by Gosar on Sunday appears to be an altered version of a Japanese animated series.
Twitter said in a notification attached above the tweet that it had determined “it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”
