Dr. Paul Gosar, the Republican Congressman from Arizona’s 4th District, made a controversial tweet on Monday in the aftermath of escalating tensions between the United States of America and Iran. He shared a picture of former President of USA Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani shaking each other’s hands. The caption said, “The world is a better place without these guys in power.”
https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1214276066086395906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
However, as it turned out, the image was actually photoshopped and in reality, the image in question was one between Obama and former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. People on the internet pointed out that the image shared by Gosar was fake.
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1214285040290586624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As controversy escalated around the matter, Gosar slammed those accusing him of sharing ‘Fake News’ and defended himself against the onslaught. He called those who insinuated that he confused Rouhani with the deceased Iranian General Qassem Soleimani ‘dim-witted’ and said that he had not claimed Obama met with Rouhani in person.
https://twitter.com/DrPaulGosar/status/1214286578077634561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As is obvious, Gosar’s clarification on the matter is technically correct. The caption of the photoshopped image is extremely ambiguous regarding the nature of the claim made. One interpretation is the obvious one, that he confused Rouhani with Soleimani, and the other being that he meant the world will be better off without Rouhani. Furthermore, Gosar is a bit of a troll on the internet. Not too long ago, he had made an entire series of tweets whose first letter, in reverse-chronological order, read out as the popular meme “Epstein didn’t kill himself”.
https://twitter.com/AaronBlake/status/1194745750145646603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Epstein, here, refers to the high profile pedophile Jeffery Epstein who died while in prison. It is widely believed that Epstein, who had extensive links with prominent individuals from the political establishment of western countries, was murdered even though the official story maintained that he committed suicide.
Considering Gosar’s past conduct, it appears extremely possible that he shared the photoshopped image of Barack Obama knowing fully well that it will elicit the reaction from the liberal establishment that it did. Furthermore, it’s common knowledge that Barack Obama never met Rouhani. Therefore, instead of accusing him of sharing fake news, we will have to give Gosar the benefit of the doubt on this one.