Paul Gosar denies link to white nationalist fundraiser despite his face being on the flyer
The spectacle of sitting members of Congress openly consorting with White nationalist groups is one of the most shameful trends to develop during the Trump era.
Prior to the birther conspiracy theory-slinging president’s tenure, open displays of racism were still a political third rail for most mainstream politicians, at least the ones that managed to get elected.
Now the House of Representatives has several members with close ties to extremist groups that tout western civilization as the apotheosis of human evolution and reject the notion that anyone but the melanin-deprived should matter in the grand scheme of things.
Among the most notorious of this group is Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ), a man so utterly deplorable that his own family has actively worked to bring attention to his particular brand of racist lunacy and have him ejected from Congress.
While Rep. Gosar has never been shy about loudly pronouncing his right-wing extremist bona fides, he is now trying to back away from the latest controversy that has enveloped his career.
After human rights activists and any people with a conscience spotted and condemned an online announcement of an upcoming fundraiser featuring Gosar and White nationalist activist Nick Fuentes, the head of the America First extremist group, Gosar is now claiming to have never had plans to attend the heavily-hyped event.
It is a sudden change of heart for Rep. Gosar, whose new denials are belied by a tweet he sent just yesterday that defended America First and its racist values system.
Not sure why anyone is freaking out. I’ll say this: there are millions of Gen Z, Y and X conservatives. They believe in America First. They will not agree 100% on every issue. No group does. We will not let the left dictate our strategy, alliances and efforts. Ignore the left https://t.co/EJAZopO2pI
— Paul Gosar (@DrPaulGosar) June 29, 2021
That’s a far cry from what Congressman Gosar said when he was confronted with a copy of the invitation to the fundraiser which featured a photo of himself with Fuentes.
“I have no idea what’s going on. That’s news to me,” he said. “There’s no fundraiser scheduled on Friday.”
Gosar’s perplexing denial of an ad that plainly states that it was “authorized by Gosar for Congress Committee” comes as a Denver Riggleman, a former Democratic congressional colleague, brought attention to his White nationalist fundraising activities on social media.
A sitting member of Congress fundraising with AFPAC. That’s where we are. And he sits on committees.
This is from a Telegram channel linked to Nick Fuentes. Telegram is a conspiracy & white nationalist fantasy land—that’s where Gosar hangs evidently.
A dangerous time. pic.twitter.com/KNFe8otj31
— Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) June 29, 2021
According to an account of the controversy in The Washington Post:
“This would be the second event the Arizona Republican has attended this year with Fuentes, who has previously defended segregation as being “better” for both White and Black Americans and has downplayed the horror of the Holocaust.”
“During a America First PAC event that Gosar attended in February as a keynote speaker, Fuentes called the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of former president Donald Trump “awesome” and lamented that America is losing its ‘White demographic core,’” the newspaper writes.
Despite Congressman Gosar’s dubious denials of involvement in the tainted fundraiser, congressional Democrats called for GOP leadership to take the kind of action that they took when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s reprehensible activities in harassing a teenaged Parkland school shooting survivor and endorsing the assassination of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) came to light, subsequently stripping Greene of all of her committee assignments.
“Gosar has been outside the boundaries for a long time and this takes it to a level that is wholly unacceptable and should be unacceptable to everybody in Congress,” Rep. Bradley Schneider (D-Ill.) told The Washington Post. “McCarthy needs to decide whether this is what he wants his conference to reflect or if he’s willing to kick Gosar out and say we’re going against Holocaust denial and antisemitism.”
Hopefully, this latest controversy will help convince House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to finally sanction the out-of-control Arizona lawmaker.
With Rep. Gosar still in Donald Trump’s good graces as one of his most ardent supporters, however, holding one’s breath for McCarthy to do the right thing is highly inadvisable.
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
Original reporting by Marianna Sotomayor at The Washington Post.
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