House GOP Closed-Door Meeting Reportedly Gets Tense Over Gosar Anime Meme and Whether to Punish Republicans Over Infrastructure Votes

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House Republicans got into some tense discussions Tuesday over Paul Gosar’s bonkers anime video and whether to punish the 13 members who backed the infrastructure bill.

There’s been a lot of intra-Republican fighting over the congressmembers who voted with the Democratic majority to pass the bipartisan package that received support from senators like Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham.

According to CNN, Congressman Dan Bishop (R- NC) filed a resolution to get Congressman John Katko (R- NY) pulled from from his position on the House Homeland Security Committee because he voted for the infrastructure deal.

Katko reportedly defended his vote in the meeting but “multiple GOP members emerged from Tuesday’s meeting expressing support for the resolution,” the report adds.

In addition, Congressman Chip Roy (R- TX) apparently got heated with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and demanded consequences for all 13 of those Republicans. McCarthy reportedly responded by telling Roy he’s taken votes before that Republicans weren’t happy about either.

McCarthy then got up and shot back that he’s had to explain to voters many times votes that Roy has taken.

Roy pressed McCarthy to name which votes he was taking about — “Really?”said Roy — but McCarthy didn’t name any, the source said.

— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) November 16, 2021

McCarthy urged unity in the meeting, likely referencing public attacks on those 13 Republicans by members like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R- GA), who called them traitors and encouraged her followers to call their offices. (Some of them received disturbing, violent threats.)

Meanwhile, Republicans also addressed the uproar over Gosar’s video depicting himself in an Attack on Titan video killing a character represented by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D- NY).

Democrats are pushing a measure to censure Gosar, who has since taken down the video while repeatedly defending it. The Arizona Republican has also come under criticism this year for his associations with white nationalists.

CNN’s reporting says “few, if any, Republicans” are expected to back the censure resolution.

According to Politico, Gosar told Republicans the purpose of the anime meme where he is depicted killing a colleague was meant as a way of appealing to younger audiences.

He explained it wasn’t intended to encourage violence and it was an experiment of trying to reach out to a younger audience.

— Olivia Beavers (@Olivia_Beavers) November 16, 2021