More Republican Congress members linked to extremist groups

Ashley Terrell
·3 min read

‘Today is 1776,’ said Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert

More Republican Congress members are facing scrutiny after the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.

When asked whether the country heading to Civil War, Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona said “We’re in it. We just haven’t started shooting at each other yet.”

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) talks to the media at a press conference outside the US Capital on December 03, 2020 in Washington, DC. The House Freedom Caucus repeated unproven or discredited allegations about election fraud in the 2020 US presidential election. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) talks to the media at a press conference outside the US Capital on December 03, 2020 in Washington, DC. The House Freedom Caucus repeated unproven or discredited allegations about election fraud in the 2020 US presidential election. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

According to The New York Times, nearly 150 House Republicans were in support of former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election.

Gosar and many other Republican members of the House are said to have deep ties to the extremist groups that caused a riot and stormed the halls of Congress in protest of President Joe Biden’s certification.

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Some of the Republican members of Congress linked to extremist organizations and movements include Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Matt Gaetz.

Representative Biggs of Arizona was connected to the “Stop the Steal” campaign in support of Trump’s bid to overturn the election. Representative Gaetz of Florida appeared at an event in 2020 with members of The Proud Boys, an extremist organization that was present during the Capitol riots.

On an episode of his podcast, “Hot Takes with Matt Gaetz,” Gaetz said that the Proud Boys were present solely to provide security and expressed that taking photos doesn’t mean he’s tied to a certain group.

“The experiences I have personally have observed and have had with the Proud Boys…the patriot contributions they’ve made in keeping Black people safe who wanted to speak about politics in the deep south is admirable,” Gaetz said.

Representative Greene previously promoted QAnon’s conspiracy theories and participated in rallies held by militia groups. In 2019, Greene used social media to endorse the execution of top Democrats and suggested that the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida was a staged attack.

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On the day of the Capitol riots, Congresswoman Boebert of Colorado and guns-rights activist tweeted “Today is 1776.” She has close connections to militia including Three Percenters, who were also present that day.

Officials are reportedly investigating claims from House Democrats that a number of House Republicans provided tours to rioters prior to Jan. 6. No evidence has surfaced to support those claims.

Boebert recently made headlines for feuding with Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg. Hogg called her and Greene “real threats” to the U.S. Capitol in a tweet urging Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to stand against them.

Boebert replied, “David, please. We all saw how tough you were when questioned face to face. Give your keyboard a rest, child.”

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