Gosar targets Hillary Clinton on Christmas Eve and gets roasted
Rep. Paul Gosar, increasingly a provocative presence on Twitter, took a Christmas Eve shot at Bill and Hillary Clinton that generated an online backlash that continued through the holiday week.
Gosar, R-Ariz., was still trending on Twitter two days after he tweeted nearly 28-year-old footage of a light almost falling on the Clintons during a 1992 interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes.” After the equipment crashes to the ground, Bill Clinton, then the Arkansas governor and a candidate for president, protectively embraces his wife as she exclaims, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”
Gosar included a holiday message with the vintage video: “Remember the reason for the season! #MerryChristmas.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the conservative Gosar’s tweet seemingly celebrating a near calamity involving Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, had prompted more than 22,000 comments.
The responses were mostly negative, but the tweet also was “liked” more than 12,000 times.
Chelsea Clinton, the Clintons’ daughter, responded on Thursday: “At 11am on Christmas Eve, we were making cookies for Santa. Thank you Congressman @RepGosar for reminding me of my dad’s quick reflexes!”
Among the critics was Delina DiSanto, a Democratic candidate in Gosar’s solidly Republican 4th Congressional District, which spans northwestern Arizona.
“I cannot believe you feel this is something to celebrate. @HillaryClinton almost got hurt and you think it’s something to celebrate or are you laughing?” DiSanto tweeted. “Now that is a dark personality. I’m coming for your seat. We cannot continue to have you in office. You are a danger to #AZ04.”
Many who took issue with Gosar’s targeting of the Clintons were quick to remind Gosar that six of his siblings endorsed his Democratic opponent in 2018 and appeared in online ads urging 4th district voters to reject their brother.
“You are a sad pathetic person. I can see why your family hates you,” tweeted Fred Wellman, the CEO and founder of ScoutComms, which describes itself as a veterans- and military-oriented “public relations and corporate social responsibility firm.”
For his part, Gosar at the time dismissed the siblings who opposed his reelection as “liberal Democrats” and “disgruntled Hillary supporters” who “like leftists everywhere ... put political ideology before family.”
Gosar, a five-term congressman, seems to be consciously building a reputation as a conservative provocateur on social media.
Last month, Gosar tweeted a series of messages in which the first letter spelled out “Epstein didn’t kill himself,” seemingly endorsing the conspiracy theory that accused sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein didn’t hang himself while awaiting trial.
Gosar subsequently suggested he was not serious about it. that