Republican Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona denied he planned to attend a far-right conference with ties to White nationalist groups on April 20, the birthday of German Nazi Party leader and Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Hitler.
The day of Hitler’s birth is celebrated by White supremacists and neo-Nazis alike.
According to a report first published in Arizona Mirror, Gosar's campaign claimed he would not be attending the event hosted by The American Populist Union, a group closely aligned with the Groypers, sometimes called the Groyper Army, a group of White nationalist and far-right activists, provocateurs and internet trolls who've inserted extremist views into mainstream conservatism.
Gosar's campaign claimed they did not know how he was listed as a guest of honor. However, Gosar's social media told a different story.
Gosar promoted his scheduled appearance on Instagram, according to a screenshot captured by Arizona Right Wing Watch.
Following Gosar's denial, an organizer for The American Populist Union told The Washington Post “there seems to be a misunderstanding and scheduling conflict” with Gosar's office.
This is the second time in as many months Gosar has come under fire for his association with White nationalist groups.
In February, he was criticized by Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney after news outlets reported he was a featured speaker at the third annual America First Political Action Conference, a group widely identified as a White nationalist organization.
Gosar was quickly called out for his easily disproven lie.
Gosar has attracted significant media attention for being one of the most hardline right-wingers in Congress, particularly in regard to the January 6 insurrection.
The extent of Gosar's alleged involvement in the insurrection, which took place when a mob of former President Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol on the false premise the 2020 election had been stolen, appeared to become clearer following a bombshell report from Rolling Stone.
In October 2021, Rolling Stone published an article stating several supporters of former President Trump who helped plan the insurrection had multiple planning sessions with senior White House staffers and Republican members of Congress.
Sources who spoke to the magazine said they met with several high-profile Republican Trump acolytes, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia), Lauren Boebert (Colorado), Madison Cawthorn (North Carolina) and Gosar.
Organizers claim Gosar promised "blanket pardons" to anyone who participated in the attack, adding they "would talk to Boebert's team, Cawthorn's team, Gosar's team like back to back to back to back."
Gosar was censured in the House–though defended by his Republican colleagues–after he shared an altered, animated video that depicted him killing New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and threatening Democratic President Joe Biden.
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