Why did the Congressman miss a vote on a $1.9 trillion dollar stimulus package? Because he was speaking at an event organized by an avowed white nationalist.
Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, designated a proxy to cast his “no” vote on the historic legislation, passed early Saturday by the House of Representatives. He blamed “the ongoing public health emergency” for his absence. In reality, Rep. Gosar spent Friday night delivering a speech at the America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida.
The founder of the America First Foundation, provocateur Nicholas Fuentes, has an extensive history of racism, antisemitism, and spreading conspiracy theories. Fuentes attended the infamous 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia and, like Rep. Gosar, he championed the “Stop the Steal” movement designed to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election.
On January 4th, just two days before mob violence at the U.S. Capitol resulted in five deaths, Fuentes asked his streaming audience, “What are we going to do to them? What can you and I do to a state legislator besides kill them?”
In his speech at the America First event on Friday, Rep. Gosar reportedly railed against the power of big tech and defended hate-monger Laura Loomer, depicting the proud bigot as a victim of social media censorship.
Fuentes took the stage immediately after Rep. Gosar. Fuentes told the audience that if the U.S. “loses its white demographic core, then this is not America anymore.”
On the topic of the deadly insurrection at the Capitol, Fuentes said, “I saw hundreds of thousands of patriots surrounding the U.S. Capitol building, and I saw the police retreating, and we heard that the politicians voting on the fraudulent election had scurried to their underground tunnels away from the Capitol. And I said to myself, ‘This is awesome!'”
Rep. Gosar has been among the most vocal Trump defenders, parroting the former president’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Last month, The Washington Post reported that right-wing activist Ali Alexander said he received Rep. Gosar’s help in planning the January 6th riot.
Earlier this week, The L.A. Times ran a piece on Rep. Gosar’s siblings, who want him thrown out of office. Gosar’s brother Tim explains:
“If you believe in things — integrity, character, honesty — when those things are compromised, those things are being diminished, when those things are being overrun, you better stand up,” Tim said. “I don’t care if it’s your brother or somebody else. You have an obligation.”
Rep. Gosar appeared at CPAC on Saturday morning. He tried distancing himself from racists, saying “I denounce when we talk about white racism. That’s not appropriate.”
