Rep. Paul Gosar's siblings say he helped 'incite' Jan. 6 Capitol attack and must resign

The siblings of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) have long been vocal about their opposition to his right-wing views, and in an opinion piece for NBC News published Sunday, they called on him to resign, saying his actions leading up to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were a "betrayal" to the country.

Dave Gosar, Jennifer Gosar, and Tim Gosar said they have been aware of their brothers's "unhinged behavior for years," and disagree with him on everything from his claim that COVID-19 was overblown to his support of Roy Moore's Senate run in Alabama, which came after he was accused of sexual misconduct. Now, they are focused on Gosar's role in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

In a direct message to their brother, the Gosars wrote that it seems "you are immune to shame. In addition to betraying your family and causing irreparable damage to the relationships within it, you decided to betray your country by helping incite the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol." They said he helped organize Stop the Steal rallies and "achieved the deplorable distinction of being the congressman with the most tweets devoted to election lies and instigating the riot."

The siblings called it "shocking" that Gosar is "trying to gaslight everyone" by saying Ashli Babbitt, a woman shot and killed by police on Jan. 6 while trying to climb through a door that led to the House chamber, was "somehow an innocent bystander." Gosar, they added, was lying about the election on the House floor that day, and those "lies helped delay the Capitol Police from clearing the chamber, and this delay led at least in part to the officer's decision to shoot Babbitt to protect you. And now you have the gall to blame those men and women who protected you for her death."

Gosar, they said, does not have "the intellect, character, or maturity" to be a congressman, and it's likely his "lifelong, insecure need for the approval of others caused you to sacrifice your common decency and integrity to satisfy Trump and his followers in order to keep your seat." If he doesn't resign or his colleagues don't step in to have him removed, Gosar's siblings concluded, he is "likely doomed to go down in history as a cautionary tale: a person who betrayed his family, his country, and even himself."

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