MORGANTOWN — Two of three West Virginia U.S. House members did not respond to requests from The Dominion Post for comments on their votes on last week’s House resolution to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
Reps. Alex Mooney and Carol Miller, Republicans representing the state’s 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts, respectively, did not respond to emails sent Monday and Tuesday.
Only Rep. David McKinley, Republican representing the 1st District, replied.
He said, “Congressman Gosar’s post was obviously offensive and showed poor judgment; however, he deserved due process and the opportunity to be heard. This matter should have gone to the Ethics Committee to be reviewed for a recommendation.
“The Democrats’ attempt to censure a member and strip them of their committee assignment without this due process sets an unfortunate precedent, opening the door to subverting the normal process in the future. We need to find ways to restore civility in the House and focus on doing the work that we’ve been elected to do.”
Gosar had posted to social media a Photoshopped anime video showing him apparently killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and leading member of the progressive “Squad,” and attacking President Joe Biden, according to news reports.
Gosar issued a statement saying the video was “a symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy.”
He said, “The video depicts the fight taking place … on the House floor and symbolizes the battle for the soul of America when Congress takes up Mr. Biden’s massive $4 trillion spending bill that includes amnesty for millions of illegal aliens already in our country and was not meant to depict any harm or violence against anyone portrayed in the anime.”
He took down the post but did not apologize. He later retweeted a tweet that praised him and included the video, according to news reports.
Wednesday’s vote on the resolution to censure was 223 to 207, with Republicans Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney joining the Democrats. Republican David Joy voted present. All three West Virginia representatives voted against it.
Gosar was required to stand in the well of the House while the censure was read. He was removed from his two committee assignments on the House Oversight and Reform Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.
Gosar is only the 24th House member to face censure, according to news reports.
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