Siblings of Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) once again railed against their brother in a recent opinion piece, stepping up a call for his resignation while criticizing him for backing former President Trump’s claims of widespread voter fraud and for “instigating” the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“Although his colleagues in Congress and others in the media seem to only recently be paying attention, we have been aware of his unhinged behavior for years,” Dave, Jennifer and Tim Gosar — three of Paul Gosar’s nine siblings — said in an op-ed published by NBC Think on Sunday.
They went on to list a series of what they described as “destructive” actions by their brother over the years and said he betrayed his country “by helping incite the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol.”
“It seems, in fact, that you are immune to shame,” Gosar’s siblings wrote.
“Maybe you don’t know how you got to this very dark place, Paul. Unfortunately, we have some ideas. Maybe it’s because you’re in way over your head in Congress and don’t have the intellect, character or maturity to be in that leadership role,” they added.
Gosar is among a number of Republican lawmakers and prominent conservatives who have drawn immense criticism for throwing support behind Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the election was stolen after he lost to President Biden in November.
The day of the insurrection at the Capitol in early January, when droves of demonstrators and Trump supporters breached the government grounds as Congress worked to officially count Electoral College votes that affirmed Biden’s win, Gosar called on Biden to concede.
“Biden should concede. I want his concession on my desk tomorrow morning. Don’t make me come over there,” Gosar wrote in a tweet at the time. The post also featured a picture of the large gathering of demonstrators in the nation’s capital.
Gosar, who has also come under fire from members of his own party for his controversial election remarks, drew more heat in June when he suggested Ashli Babbitt, a woman who was fatally shot by police while climbing through broken glass to get into the Speaker’s Lobby steps from the House chamber, was “executed.”
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) criticized Gosar, who also claimed Capitol Police were “lying in wait” for Babbitt at the time, for the comments. She said the police led her and Gosar “to safety” during the riot and called it “disgusting and despicable to see Gosar lie about that day and smear the men and women who defended us.”
Gosar’s siblings, who have also criticized him repeatedly in the past and called for his removal from Congress in June, took aim at their brother in the op-ed on Sunday for those same comments about Babbitt, accusing him of “trying to gaslight everyone.”
“Maybe your 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,” they wrote.
“What should happen now is that you resign. Sadly, this seems unlikely. This means unless your colleagues step in, you are likely doomed to go down in history as a cautionary tale: a person who betrayed his family, his country and even himself,” they continued.
“Ultimately, the first victim of the big lies — the lies you have always told yourself to justify anything you do, always for your benefit and at the expense of others — is really you,” the congressman’s siblings added.
The Hill has reached out to Gosar’s office for comment.