The House voted to censure Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, and strip him of his committee assignments, for tweeting an animated video that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking President Joe Biden.

Just two Republicans – Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming – joined every House Democrat in voting to punish the far-right Arizona lawmaker. The final vote was 223-207, with one Republican, Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio, voting "present."

Ahead of Wednesday's vote, Democratic lawmakers said Gosar's actions amounted to threatening another member's life, calling the video "beyond the pale."

"When a member uses his or her national platform to encourage violence, tragically people listen to those words and they may act upon them," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said as she kicked off debate on the measure. 

"We can not have a member joking about murdering each other or threatening the president of the United States," Pelosi said, with both Gosar and Ocasio-Cortez sitting in attendance, adding: "This is about workplace harassment and violence against women."

"Disguising death threats against a Member of Congress and a president of the United States in an animated video does not make those death threats any less real or less serious," she said, concluding her remarks by calling it "a sad day but a necessary day for the House of Representatives."

Republicans warned Democrats to be careful about dictating the punishment of those who serve in the minority because of the precedent it will set.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., widely blasted it as an "abuse of power" by Democrats, accusing Pelosi of "burning down the House on her way out the door," in reference to his aspirations of retaking the chamber in the 2022 midterm elections.

"Let me be clear," McCarthy continued. "I do not condone violence, and representative Gosar has echoed that sentiment."

But McCarthy accused Democrats of exhibiting a double-standard: "Rules for thee, but not for me. That's exactly what's happening here."

"A new standard will continue to be applied in the future," McCarthy pledged as he concluded his remarks.

In response to McCarthy's remarks, Rep. Ocasio-Cortez asked, "What is so hard about saying this is wrong?”

"In response to the Republican Leader's remarks when he says that 'this action is unprecedented', what I believe is unprecedented is for a member of House leadership of either party to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body," she said.

"Does anyone in this chamber find this behavior acceptable?" she asked. "Would you allow that in your home? Do you think this should happen on a school board? A church?"

"Our work here matters, our example matters," she continued. "There is meaning in our service. And as leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions against our colleagues, that trickles down into violence in this country. And that is where we must draw the line."

After Ocasio-Cortez, Gosar himself got up to speak. Comparing himself to Alexander Hamilton, he condemned the resolution against him.

"If I must join Alexander Hamilton, the first person attempted to be censored by this House, I will do it," he said, adding: "I do not espouse violence towards anyone. I never have. It was not my purpose to make anyone upset."

But, Gosar maintained, "there is no threat in the cartoon," claiming it was a video about immigration.

During one roughly 10-second section of the video, animated characters whose faces had been replaced with Gosar, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., were shown fighting other animated characters.

In one scene, Gosar's character is seen striking the one made to look like Ocasio-Cortez in the neck with a sword. The video also shows him attacking President Joe Biden.

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the chair of the House Rules Committee, said that it was a "simple" matter: "When a member uses taxpayer money to produce a video encouraging violence against another member, they should lose the privilege of serving on a committee."

California Rep. Jackie Speier said in her remarks that Ocasio-Cortez "has become the go-to subject of the radical right to stir up their base, as too often is the case for women of color."

"It is disgusting and profoundly unacceptable," she said, slamming McCarthy's inaction against Gosar.

"Violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon," Speier said, adding that Gosar said the accusations against him were "'shrill and hyperventilating.'"

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to glean that this is gender-coded language," she added.

Earlier this year, the House stripped Georgia Rep. Greene of her committee assignments for spreading hateful and violent conspiracy theories.

"This is a dark and dangerous road the majority is going down," Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the House Rules Committee, said Tuesday. "I urge you for the future of the chamber to rethink this course."

Gosar posted the video over a week ago with a note saying, "Any anime fans out there?" The roughly 90-second video was an altered version of a Japanese anime clip, interspersed with shots of Border Patrol officers and migrants at the southern U.S. border. 

"I don't know if it was to create harm, if it was to incite violence, if it was to fuel hate, but it probably accomplished all of those things," Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, said. "We have an obligation to live up to the highest standards possible, but also to hold each other up to those standards. If we don't do it, then what we are doing is allowing for a new norm to be created."

Last week, Gosar issued a statement saying the video wasn't meant to depict harm or violence, calling it instead "a symbolic portrayal of a fight over immigration policy." 

Gosar told his House Republican colleagues during a private meeting Tuesday that he would never espouse violence or harm to anyone. He added that he took the video down from his account, according to someone knowledgeable with the meeting.

Ocasio-Cortez said Tuesday he has not apologized to her.

"It's been well over a week. He not only has not apologized," she said. "He not only has not made any sort of contact or outreach, neither he nor the Republican leader McCarthy, but he has also doubled down by saying that I am somehow, you know, representative of undocumented people."

"In a perfect world, he'd be expelled," she told reporters. "We are not in a perfect world, so censure and removal from committee I believe is appropriate."

The resolution coming up for a vote states that depictions of violence can foment actual violence and jeopardize the safety of elected officials. It also cites the insurrection of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 as an example. The resolution goes on to say that violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon meant to silence and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life, with women of color disproportionately impacted. 

A censure resolution, if approved by a majority of the House, requires the censured lawmaker to stand in the well of the House as the resolution of censure is read aloud by the House speaker. 

Wednesday's censure vote was the first since Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York was censured by his own party in 2010 for financial misconduct and ethics violations. The House has censured its members on 23 previous occasions.

The censure carries no practical effect, except to provide a historic footnote that marks a lawmaker's career.

The censure resolution also calls for Gosar's removal from the two committees he serves on: the Committee on Natural Resources and Committee on Oversight and Reform, which includes Ocasio-Cortez.

Rep. Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of the two Republicans who voted to censure Gosar, wrote on Twitter that "we have to hold Members accountable who incite or glorify violence, who spread and perpetuate dangerous conspiracies."

"The failure to do so will take us one step closer to this fantasized violence becoming real," Kinzinger added.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.