Paul Gosar calls himself a victim of terrorism after colleagues call him out for assassination cartoon

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) is responding to critics who called him out for his tweet of a cartoon showing him assassinating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and swinging swords preparing to kill President Joe Biden.

According to an email posted by Ben Jacobs, Gosar said that those attacking him are akin to the terrorists who opened fire on the French publication Charlie Hebdo in 2015.

"While the degree of punishment differs, this is the same sentiment expressed against the Charlie Hebdo magazine in France in 2015 that was punished for publishing a cartoon — resulting in a real-life massacre of 12 real live people," wrote Gosar. "Indeed, the former deputy director of the CIA concluded that those who attacked Charlie Hebdo were 'trying to shut down a media organization that lampooned the Prophet Muhammad.'"

"And now here, in the United States, six years later, the motive by some of my colleagues in Congress is the same: to shut down media that lampoons those who support the dangerous open border policies of the Biden administration," Gosar closed.

Gosar wasn't attacked for his opposition to the border, nor is he an example of the "media." Gosar was posting assassination cartoons with no context. Twitter found it threatening enough to pull it down from their site.

Democrats have denounced Gosar and asked for his censure and, in some cases, expulsion from Congress. The only Republican to speak out against him was Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).

Read the statement below: