Rep. Louie Gohmert Hails Jan. 6 Rioter ‘American Hero,’ Gifts American Flag That Flew Over Capitol

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) honored Dr. Simone Gold, who participated and served time for her role in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots, last week.

The Texas congressman presented Gold with an American flag that had been flown over the Capitol.

“I am honored to receive this recognition from Congressman Gohmert, a true believer in freedom and a fierce defender of our constitutional rights,” she wrote on Twitter, along with photos of Gohmert giving her the flag.

“@Drsimonegold is a patriot and an American hero,” Gohmert responded in a tweet of his own.

He went on to label Gold as “the definition of what a political prisoner looks like,” claiming she had walked into the building “peacefully.”

Gold pled guilty and was sentenced to two months in prison for unlawfully entering a restricted area of the Capitol building and giving a speech after ignoring authorities’ orders to leave. She was released two weeks early earlier this month.

Gold is also a well-known anti-COVID vaccine advocate, and she founded the anti-vaccine organization America’s Frontline Doctors.

Gohmert received plenty of backlash for honoring Gold.

“Louie Gohmert seen here rewarding a domestic terrorist,” former spokesperson for Breitbart News Kurt Bardella wrote on Twitter. “Imagine if a member of Congress gave an American flag that flew over the Capitol to one of the terrorists who helped plan 9/11. This is that. Gohmert should be expelled from Congress.”