Crying Wolf on Paul Gosar – David Stringer and Anita Cohen

The  Arizona Republic’s May 16^th,  front page article purporting to sound an alarm about Congressman Paul Gosar’s alleged ‘antisemitism’  sends an unmistakable message. Now in his sixth term as an Arizona Congressman,  Paul Gosar has established himself as one of the most reliably conservative voices in Congress. For this reason, enemies on the left demand that he be smeared and silenced.

For five of Gosar’s six terms,  he represented  CD2,  where he enjoyed broad support from Jewish Republicans in the Prescott area.  It is heartbreaking  to see the Anti-Defamation League and a spokesman for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix now carrying water for “woke” critics of one of the most popular and respected Republican officials in Arizona.

According to the Republic’s informants, an obscure lefty blog identified as Talking Points Memo, claims Gosar  has cozied up to white advocate Nick Fuentes and Hungary’s Victor Orban and now harbors young antisemites on his staff. Never mind that Cong. Gosar has spoken publicly in favor of  the State of Israel and the Jewish people. Or that as a congressman, he routinely votes in favor of continued military aid for Israel—by far the largest recipient of US  foreign aid and military support since its founding in 1948. The article cites no instance of Gosar speaking  against or  voting against Jewish  interests.

This week the Congressman received his reward—a front page denunciation from the ADL  and a spokesman for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix,  published in Arizona’s largest circulation newspaper.  On May 19^th,  the Biden administration weighed in with Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates,  never one to mince words,  denouncing Gosar for “Bigotry, white supremacy, antisemitism and violence….”

Now that the Congressman has been outed for his “racism”  and general vileness, all those who might wish to defend his record  invite denunciation on themselves. The basis for Gosar’s alleged antisemitism is his appearance at a Nick Fuentes event and employing young staffers who may have made facetious references to Jews and minorities on social media sites. It’s the old  McCarthyite trick of guilt by association. By this logic,  anyone who defends Gosar or his young staffers must also be antisemitic.  But “crying wolf” on such thin grounds is not just a discredit to his accusers  but unfairly diminishes a deep reservoir of goodwill toward the Jewish community as a whole. Paul Gosar has a record of  friendship toward Jews and the State of Israel. How can denouncing him possibly be helpful to future battles when legitimate Jewish interests are at stake?

Allow me to note that the co-author of this piece,  Prescott eNews Editor,  Anita Cohen,  is an observant Jew and personally acquainted with Congressman Gosar. Your humble servant, the Publisher of Prescott eNews,  has years of personal experience working with Jewish lawyers and judges and law school professors.

According to the Republic’s hit piece,  Gosar  once appeared in person and once by video, at Nick Fuentes’  America First Conservative Political Action Committee meetings. Since when does appearing at a political meeting imply endorsement of everything the organizer or others in attendance may have said?

Photo: Nick Fuentes

Mr. Fuentes, for those who don’t know, is a political prodigy of the far right. He began speaking out on the Great Replacement and cultural decay while still in his teens. Unquestionably, he is a  provocateur of the first rank, given to hyperbole and rhetorical excess. At the age of 24, his podcasts and talent for political organization have brought him national celebrity, especially with Generation Z.  He has been smeared as an antisemite for committing the unpardonable sin of denouncing “woke” Jews in high places. Even worse, he refuses to apologize for being  white. And Christian.

Along with the smear on Gosar himself is an “outing” by name of the young staffers in question. So far the Congressman has refused to respond to calls for their purge. He is right to resist. Canning young staffers for poor judgment on their private social media accounts is not only a violation of their personal privacy but an affront to free speech. It would signal weakness and not strength. Caving in is never respected or rewarded. To fire these young men might well destroy their careers and embitter them instead of offering an opportunity for redemption.

In closing, we do not write in support of Nick Fuentes or his political agenda. He likely relishes this latest controversy and the new listeners it will bring to his podcasts. We are writing because an honorable man has been wronged. In 2010, while still in his prime, Dr. Paul Gosar  gave up  a flourishing dental practice in Flagstaff, Arizona, to run for Congress.  He didn’t get a pay hike by going into politics. He went to Congress as a patriot,  motivated by love of country and determined to defend our freedom and the culture and heritage of our people. Congressman Gosar is a servant leader who deserves our respect and loyalty in the face of outrageous smears from those who would destroy us.