Paul Gosar's brothers called the lawmaker's comments about the Capitol riots 'despicable' and said he was a 'pathological liar'
- Rep. Paul Gosar's brothers appeared on CNN on Thursday morning to talk about the lawmaker's Capitol riot comments.
- Rep. Gosar had said Ashli Babbitt was "executed" by a Capitol police officer.
- His brothers called the comment "despicable" and called Gosar a "snake oil salesman."
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Rep. Paul Gosar's brothers rebuked him after the lawmaker said that a Capitol police officer was "lying in wait" to "execute" Ashli Babbitt during the January 6 riot.
Tim and David Gosar called the Arizona Republican's comments on the Capitol riot "despicable" and apologized "on behalf of the actual sane members of our family" in an interview with CNN on Thursday morning.
"Once you lose your focus on the truth, once you become someone that peddles in lies, once you become basically a snake oil salesman, the truth is a really slippery thing to get your arms around," Tim Gosar said during the interview. "It's really hard to go back to the truth once you become a pathological liar like Paul has become."
Gosar said during a House hearing this week that the officer who shot and killed Babbitt as she attempted to break through a window in the Capitol "appeared to be hiding, lying in wait and then gave no warning before killing her." The congressman also asserted that the officer, whose identity he demanded be revealed, "executed" Babbitt.
Jennifer Gosar, the lawmaker's sister, on Wednesday told CNN's Anderson Cooper that she holds her brother "partly responsible" for the siege. She also expressed dismay at Republicans "actively trying to erase what is a very documented insurrection."
"And to know my brother is a part of that is not surprising to me," she said on Wednesday, "but it's something that - it intensifies the frustration about the erasure they're trying to enact."
Gosar was among 21 House Republicans who this week voted against awarding all law enforcement officers the highest congressional honor for their work protecting the Capitol during the deadly insurrection.
The congressman's siblings have publicly criticized him before, and six of them released a campaign ad in 2018 urging voters to support their brother's opponent in his reelection race.
The congressman dismissed the criticism, calling his family members "leftists."
"These disgruntled Hillary supporters are related by blood to me but like leftists everywhere, they put political ideology before family. Stalin would be proud," he tweeted.
-The Recount (@therecount) June 17, 2021