Democrats feel that the House of Representatives becomes a more toxic place where violent rhetoric from their GOP counterparts is tolerated.
Last week Rep. Paul Gosar (R. Arizona) was censured. He was removed from House committeesAfter sharing an animated video on social networking that showed him attacking President Joe Biden and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D–New York), he was censured. Only two Republicans voted in favor of the censure, demonstrating the GOP’s unwillingness to take action when one of their party members crosses a line.
“What is so hard about saying this is wrong? This is not about me, this is not about Representative Gosar, but this is about what we are willing to accept,” Ocasio-Cortez stated about the censure election.
The problem goes beyond the fringes of the party. Republican leadership, including Kevin McCarthy (R.California), as House Minority Leader. have repeatedly minimized Gosar’s video — and in an absurd attempt to deflect blame, he compared Gosar’s action to that of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California), who publicly supported last year’s uprisings for racial justice.
Even though Gosar never apologized for the video, some of his Republican colleagues claimed that he did, and that therefore, he didn’t deserve censure.
Shortly thereafter, Gosar was censured. He was then removed from his assigned committee positions. he doubled down, sharing the threatening video on social mediaYou can do it again.
Rep. Chip Roy (R.Texas), claimed last week that Gosar was being punished for implying that he had killed a colleague via social media. was “chilling debate” in the chamber.
Roy suggested this week that Democrats should move on from the January 6 Capitol Attack, when a mob made up of Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol Building. some chanting in favor of hanging lawmakersThey wanted to confirm the results of the 2020 election.
“People here need to get thicker skin,” Roy said, according to reporting from CNN. “At some point here, you gotta let some things roll.”
Lawmakers need to stop “making everything personal on the floor of the House,” Roy added.
“I’ve tried to live that in politics,” Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Illinois) said in response. “This, you can’t help but take personally.”
Because of Republicans’ violent rhetoric and their constant downplaying of the Capitol attack, Bustos said that she no longer wants to serve in office.
“All of this has contributed to the fact that I’m not running again,” she said. “I want to love what I do. I want to be loved by the people I work alongside. I want to respect the people I work with and that has been compromised in ways that I hope can be repaired at some point, but right now I do not feel like I can repair.”
Roy’s lack of concern over inappropriate behavior from his colleagues is nothing new. In a Video that was leaked in JulyRoy stated that sowing discord in the House was a GOP strategy for winning the 2022 midterms.
“Honestly, right now, for the next 18 months, our job is to do everything we can to slow all of that down to get to December of 2022,” Roy about his party’s obstruction of Democratic legislation. “18 more months of chaos and the inability to get stuff done. That’s what we want.”
