Jewish Democrats call on McCarthy to censure Gosar over staffer’s reported beliefs

Several Jewish Democrats in Congress called on Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday, following reports that one of the Arizona congressman’s staffers has previously expressed neo-Nazi and white supremacist beliefs.

The liberal news outlet Talking Points Memo reported last weekend that Wade Searle, Gosar’s digital director, was connected to a social media persona behind several accounts voicing support for white nationalist figure Nick Fuentes and was a relatively prominent figure among Fuentes’s followers, who are known as the “Groyper Army.”

Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) and Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) accused Gosar on Tuesday of “harboring neo-Nazi extremists in his office.”

“The presence of a ‘Groyper’ in Rep. Gosar’s office is a betrayal to the safety and security of the American people and an indication that antisemitic individuals and the white supremacist movement have infiltrated the halls of Congress,” they said in a letter to McCarthy.

“This staffer is the latest example of a disturbing pattern that reflects Rep. Gosar’s lack of moral judgment,” they added. “Rep. Gosar has a long history of associating with White nationalists and neo-Nazi extremists, and has used both his personal and official platforms to promote antisemitism and the Great Replacement Theory.”

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Great Replacement Theory is a conspiracy theory that claims there is an “active, ongoing and covert effort to replace white populations.” The theory has been cited by numerous perpetrators of mass killings of racial or religious minorities.

“We’re asking that you stand as an ally to the Jewish people at home and that you take a strong stand against the antisemitism and white supremacy flourishing in your own party,” the lawmakers added in Tuesday’s letter. “The Capitol is no place for the employment of neo-Nazis or for people who espouse the ideology of white supremacy.”

Another member of Gosar’s staff, Landen Petersen, was also reportedly linked to the pro-Fuentes accounts, according to Talking Points Memo.

Gosar was previously censured and stripped of his committee assignments in November 2021 after he posted an anime-style video showing him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and attacking President Biden.