Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) released a very long statement Tuesday to explain why his cringeworthy anime clip that showed him killing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was actually an extremely clever metaphor—then, hours later, he apparently deleted the video without explanation. In his defense of the clip, Gosar wrote that his video was a “symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy” and insisted that he would never encourage violence against any member of Congress. He faced serious blowback over the clip, including from his own sister, Jennifer Gosar, who accused her brother of trying to live out a “sociopathic fantasy.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on a congressional ethics panel and law-enforcement officials to investigate. Then, at some point on Tuesday, the video disappeared from Gosar’s Twitter profile. A Twitter spokesperson told The Hill that it wasn’t responsible for the video’s removal.
