The day when QAnon Shamon Jacob Angeli was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the US Capitol Hill riots on January 6, the House gathered to vote to censure a Republican congressman Paul Gosar, who threatened to kill a liberal Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC).
While the House successfully passed the resolution against Gosar, primarily due to the Democrats’ majority in the chamber, all but two Republicans voted against censuring a lawmaker who perpetuated similar violence, which was driven by a QAnon Shamon-led mob back in January.
The GOP backed their violent member to the fullest, but the same party turned against the thirteen Republicans lawmakers just a week ago when they sided with Democrats for passing the infrastructure legislation.
Republicans Gave Death Threats to Thirteen House Members for Voting for Infrastructure Bill
These events talk much about the prevailing nonsense in Republican ranks, which can scrutinize its members for the passing of legislation aimed at solving the infrastructure needs of the country but is incapable of doing the same to the lawmaker who threatened to kill a fellow Congresswoman.
Almost all Republicans teamed up to criticize the thirteen House Republicans who voted for the first part of Biden’s economic agenda.
Despite the fact that the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill was bipartisan legislation, this denouncement of the GOP of its own members is beyond any comprehension.
It is just an obvious fact that no Republican voter would like to go to work using broken roads and drink dirty water. So, all in all, the infrastructure bill was supposed to be the problem solver of all beyond any partisan divide.
In fact, Republicans have also vowed to repair the US infrastructure in the past, which suggests that a plan along the same lines was also included in their policy approaches had they come into power.
But their voting pattern depicts that the party votes not for the country’s progress but against Democrats in any sort of legislation.
The thirteen Republican lawmakers even received death threats and were chastised badly by former President Donald Trump.
Getting a death threat just for voting to upgrade bridges and roads of the US can only be done by the hardcore Republican supporters.
Not an Event but Culture: Republicans are Following Trumpism in Perpetuating Violence
But this violent culture has been breaded over the continuous efforts of the previous years. For instance, Donald Trump called “Hang Mike Pence” slogans “common sense,” while Sen. John Barrasso refused to criticize Trump for these remarks.
This violent culture is not limited to Congress only. Dr. Fauci, for instance, asked for security for his daughter after receiving death threats in the land of the free.
He is mostly accompanied by bodyguards even in his morning walk because some violent political supporters do not approve of his leadership during the pandemic.
Thus the trend is convincing that the GOP is ready to treat anyone as a villain who denies complying with their political ideology, be it their own members or a nonpartisan medical expert.
For Republicans, Voting for Infrastructure Bill is Wrong, but Threatening Someone with Murder Isn’t
Defending violence is in the blood of Republicans. Ranging from denying a bipartisan commission to study the January 6 riot to now voting against censuring Paul Gosar, this stands true.
Gosar, a GOP congressman from Congress, is a far-right member of the House and a Trump loyalist who posted an animated video that shows him killing AOC and threatening Biden with a sword.
While the GOP votes were not needed in giving him the official punishment, the vote was certainly a litmus test for Republicans whether they stand with peace or violence.
With the vote, Gosar ceased to exist as a member of the House Oversight Committee, as censuring is the harshest punishment the House can give to any lawmaker, just below expulsion in which the lawmakers are disqualified from Congress.
Final Thoughts
Politicians are opinion leaders, and their incitement of violence can easily trickle down in the masses.
The classic example of this dictum was seen on January 6, when Trump’s incitement gathered a mob in a matter of hours.
The House Republican leadership has even declined to condemn Gosar, with the House minority leader Kevin McCarthy calling the vote an abuse of power.
Nonetheless, Republicans need to sort out their priorities and start denouncing the culture of violence if they really want to see the party flourish.
Eli is a Political Data Scientist with over thirty years of experience in Data Engineering, Analytics, and Digital Marketing. Eli uses his expertise to give the latest information and distinctive analysis on US Political News, US Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, and Racial Justice equipping readers with the inequivalent knowledge.