GOP congressman uses conspiracy theory tied to antisemitism in newsletter

By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, for Arizona Mirror

Republican Congressman from Arizona Paul Gosar shared a number of conspiracy theories in his official House of Representatives newsletter this week, including one with antisemitic ties.  

This isn’t the first time Gosar’s newsletter has courted controversy as twice he has used it to promote websites that shared antisemitic messages like Holocaust denialism.

In the Prescott Republican’s weekly newsletter to constituents, Gosar responded to an email from a Surprise man who said he opposed President-elect Donald Trump’s nominations of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard to positions in his new administration.

Gosar defended former Congresswoman Gabbard, who has been criticized for her lack of experience working with the intelligence community, something Gosar believes makes her right for the job.      

“Many are saying that she has no background in the so-called ‘intelligence community’ that was famously responsible for quashing the Hunter Biden laptop story, fabricating Russia-Gate, replacing Ukraine’s government in 2014, launching a false flag operation on a U.S. naval vessel in coordination with the Israeli government in 1967, perpetrating the Bay of Pigs fiasco, and perhaps even killing President John F. Kennedy,” Gosar said in the newsletter.

Gosar’s defense of Gabbard is full of conspiracy theories such as Hunter Biden’s alleged involvement in a bribery scandal with connections to Russia as well as myths about the assassination of President Kennedy.

His mention of the sinking of the U.S.S. Liberty ties to an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

“Congressman Gosar’s reference to the USS Liberty incident as part of a broader critique of the intelligence community in his newsletter is misguided at best and antisemitic at worst,” Sarah Kader, deputy regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Arizona chapter said in a statement to the Arizona Mirror.

“The USS Liberty incident has been historically misused by conspiracy theorists and antisemites to promote harmful narratives targeting the Jewish community and the U.S.-Israel relationship,” Kader said. “Longstanding conspiracy theories about the USS Liberty have been repeatedly debunked and by referencing it in this context, Gosar perpetuates falsehoods that feed into antisemitic tropes and undermines public discourse.”

Gosar’s office did not respond to a request for comment for the story or answer questions about who wrote the Congressman’s reply in the newsletter.

In 2023, Gosar’s newsletter linked to an article on a website that had previously posted a video by a famed Holocaust denier and featured the same coded language used by neo-Nazis.

Gosar’s newsletter has also linked to a different website with an author who promoted a book that claims the Holocaust was a “fraud.” The website is heavily pro-Kremlin, often republishing articles from the Russian state-run propaganda websites Russia Today and Sputnik.

Iran has recently seized upon U.S.S. Liberty conspiracy theories and has used them to amplify hate against Jewish people and Israel.  The theories have also been a go-to for neo-Nazis and other antisemites.

Gosar has long amplified extremists with his platform.

In 2021, Gosar promoted the work of known white nationalist Vincent James Foxx, who became the unofficial propagandist for a neo-Nazi fight club. Gosar spoke at the same white nationalist conference as Foxx a few years earlier, alongside Holocaust-denier and antisemite Nick Fuentes, the first sitting politician to do so.

The work that Gosar promoted mentioned the “great replacement theory,” the idea, popular among white supremacists, that white Americans are being replaced by immigrants. It has been seized upon by extremist groups such as the American Identity Movement and Generation Identity.

The great replacement theory has also inspired violence. Fears of immigrants undermining his vision of a white Christian Europe motivated Anders Behring Breivik’s murderous rampage in 2011 at a Norwegian youth summer camp.

In the U.S., the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018 was the deadliest attack against the Jewish community in United States history. Just before perpetrating the attack, the killer took to right-wing social media site Gab to say he believed that immigrants were being brought in to replace and “kill our people.”

The next year in New Zealand, 51 people would be killed and 40 injured but not before the shooter would post a 74-page manifesto titled “The Great Replacement.”

In 2019, in El Paso, Texas, a shooter who killed 23 in a Walmart would cite the New Zealand shooter’s manifesto in one of his own saying it was a response to the “hispanic invasion of Texas.”

Gosar has frequently seized on meme culture used by white supremacists and neo-Nazis on his Twitter account, including the #DarkMAGA movement, which has roots in accelerationist neo-Nazi meme culture and many memes related to it often express a desire for violence against perceived enemies. In many cases, they are accompanied by neo-Nazi imagery.

Gosar’s staff said they were unaware of #DarkMAGA until it was brought to their attention by the Mirror.

Gosar has also employed two white nationalists in his office.

“As a public servant, the Congressman’s words have significant influence,” Kader said. “We urge him to consider the implications of referencing such narratives and the potential harm they can cause to Jewish Americans, the broader community, and the vital U.S.-Israel alliance.”

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