Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) shared her fears that Republicans could take over in a "very authoritarian manner" if they win the House in 2022.
Speaking on Zoom, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said she believed the House minority leader would remove Democrats from their committee assignments in response to Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) being censured for sharing an anime video that showed him killing the progressive.
She said: "Republican leader McCarthy made very clear that he very much alluded to retaliation if Republicans take over the majority.
"And so that may mean, in order to exact revenge on, consequences for his white nationalist member, he may strip Democrats from their committees as well."
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez added: "And so, it's unfortunate but frankly Republicans have made very, very clear over several statements that if they win a House majority, they intend to take over the chamber in a very authoritarian manner."
The House voted to censure Rep. Gosar in a vote of 223 to 207, which was largely along party lines. Only Representatives Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) joined Democrats to vote in favor of the censure.
After the vote, House Minority Leader McCarthy hit out against progressive Democrats, stoking concern about possible moves to censure them after the midterm elections.
He also suggested Representatives Gosar and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) would be reinstated to the committee assignments they lost.
Rep. Greene was stripped of her committee assignments in February over social media posts she made before being elected, which included advocating violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama.
Anime Controversy
Meanwhile, Rep. Gosar, who has associated himself with white nationalists such as Nick Fuentes, remains unrepentant and claimed the anime clip of him killing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez with two swords was "nothing hateful."
Following his censure, Rep. Gosar retweeted the same video clip he had deleted and which led him to be removed from his committee assignments.
Newsweek has contacted Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and House Minority Leader McCarthy for comment.
Several factors indicate the Republicans are on track to perform well in next year's midterm elections.
The party in the White House often loses seats in the elections and Democrats are impeded by President Joe Biden's poor approval ratings.
Republicans also received a major boost recently when they won Virginia's gubernatorial election, a race that was considered a bellwether for voter sentiment ahead of the midterms.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Anders Anglesey is a U.S. News Reporter based in London, U.K., covering crime, politics, online extremism and trending stories. Anders ... Read more
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