Gosar also said he didn’t know about Fuentes’ divisive background before appearing at AFPAC in 2021, when he was the first sitting member of Congress to do so.`
By Ronald J. Hansen | Arizona Republic
Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., takes the stage to help out Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., at an America First event in Mesa on March 22, 2021.
Rep. Paul Gosar sought to distance himself from Nick Fuentes (pictured )in remarks Friday, saying he didn’t intend to make a videotaped greeting for the white nationalist’s annual conference in February, though he appeared in person at the gathering last year.
Politico reported that Gosar, R-Ariz., blamed a staffer for providing a welcome message for Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference in Orlando that should have gone instead to American Principles and the Conservative Political Action Conference, also in Orlando.
“It wasn’t supposed to go to Nick’s group,” Gosar told Politico. He said the staffer “misconstrued” directions from Tom Van Flein, his chief of staff.
Gosar also said he didn’t know about Fuentes’ divisive background before appearing at AFPAC in 2021, when he was the first sitting member of Congress to do so.
“The young people that were being misled by somebody — we should be trying to mentor, trying to change them. I’ve given up … on dealing with Nick. Nick’s got a problem with his mouth.”
Neither Van Flein nor a spokesperson for Gosar could be immediately reached for comment late Friday.
Gosar’s rhetorical shift comes as Republicans on Capitol Hill sense political momentum in their bid to retake one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, but are also battling controversies that distract from their attacks on President Joe Biden and Democrats over inflation, gas prices, illegal immigration at the southern border and other matters.
