Coreen Anderson didn’t want to see the dentist.
She hadn’t had her teeth cleaned for the better part of a decade, and was “super fearful” of the experience. But there was a guy in town who came highly recommended, and she decided to go see him.
Sure enough, the dentist took fantastic care of her. “He was amazing, just amazing,” said Anderson, who works as a nurse in Flagstaff, Ariz. “He was so kind, and gentle. And not at all judgmental about how I hadn’t been to a dentist in so long. He was just like, ‘Well, you’re here now, it’s going to be okay.’ ”
He turned her into a regular; between 2006 and 2009, she saw him often. And while the work could be extensive — four cavities and at least one crown — she came to almost enjoy her visits.
Recently, however, when she spotted him at a Flagstaff antique store, she ducked out of the way. This time, she didn’t want the dentist to see her.
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“I was with my friend,” she recalled, “And I turned to her and said, ‘What the hell happened to Paul Gosar?’ ”
You may have seen Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar in footage from Jan. 6, standing on the floor of the House of Representatives — an American flag mask hanging beneath his nose, his head bobbing up and down — objecting to the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, shortly before insurrectionists attempted to break into the chamber to do the same. Gosar has devoted himself to former president Donald Trump’s false claims about his election loss, promoting “Stop the Steal” rallies, referring to President Biden as “an illegitimate usurper” and calling the angry masses who laid siege to the Capitol “peaceful patriots.”
If oral health is a good indicator of overall health, it’s fair to wonder about the state of the Republican Party with Gosar as a mouthpiece.
He’s tweeted eulogistically about Ashli Babbitt, a woman whose enthusiasm for QAnon — a sprawling set of false claims that have coalesced into an extremist ideology that has radicalized its followers — inspired her to storm the Capitol, where she was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while trying to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door outside the Speaker’s Lobby.
“They took her life,” the congressman wrote, apparently quoting a U2 song that was written about Martin Luther King Jr. “They could not take her pride.”
Rep. Gosar says Capitol police were 'lying in wait' to shoot Ashli Babbitt
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) on June 15 said a Capitol Police officer was "lying in wait" to shoot rioter Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 insurrection. (The Washington Post)
What were the Capitol rioters thinking on Jan. 6?
On top of his affection for the Jan. 6 rioters, Gosar has attended multiple events with Nick Fuentes, a white-nationalist activist who has described Gosar’s membership in Congress as a reason for hope.
Gosar’s evolution from the Arizona Dental Association’s 2001 Dentist of the Year to a conspiracy-minded, race-baiting congressman isn’t exactly surprising to anyone paying attention to today’s GOP and its associated right-wing media personalities, whose adoption of Trump’s personal bugbears has made conspiracy theorists of many rank-and-file Republicans.
And yet, to the people who knew Gosar as a mild-mannered dentist, it all feels shocking.
“Gosar the dentist had to be the real Paul Gosar,” said Anderson, the patient who became loyal to him due to his gentle, careful, nonjudgmental style. “It had to be. There’s no way that person was fake. Did he get brainwashed? Did the power get to this head? I honestly don’t know what could have happened.”
Gosar’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The dental profession, meanwhile, has been at pains to resolve its enthusiasm for having a dentist in Congress with the awkwardness of seeing that dentist using his profile to undermine public faith in elections. On Sunday, trustees of the American Dental Association determined that their political action committee should suspend future contributions to Gosar. Dentists who have known him for years have reprimanded him, both publicly and privately.
Among his patients, especially the liberal ones, the transformation of their favorite dentist has left a sour taste in their mouths.
“He did a nice little job on a color match to make a denture tooth match the rest of my teeth,” said Craig Beeson. “But now I’m repulsed thinking about it.”
“It’s really awful,” said Joseph Harte, a retired Episcopal priest who had a tooth yanked by Gosar. “To think of him putting his hands in my mouth just gives me the creeps.”
The name plate next to Rep. Paul Gosar's office in the Rayburn House Office Building alludes to his credentials in dental medicine. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Andy Kruse was never creeped out by Gosar's politics when he used to visit his office for checkups, although it was clear they didn't see exactly eye to eye politically.
“We’d have some debates — ribbing sessions, really,” said Kruse, a Democrat and businessman in the renewable energy field. “You don’t want to have a real argument with your dentist though. You’re in a pretty vulnerable position.”
Kruse was happy with Gosar’s dental care and willing to tolerate his politics, which didn’t seem too extreme at the time. In fact, the two men went out for dinner after Gosar went to Congress in 2011, and “I got the sense he wanted to ask me to join his team,” Kruse recalled.
She hadn’t had her teeth cleaned for the better part of a decade, and was “super fearful” of the experience. But there was a guy in town who came highly recommended, and she decided to go see him.
Sure enough, the dentist took fantastic care of her. “He was amazing, just amazing,” said Anderson, who works as a nurse in Flagstaff, Ariz. “He was so kind, and gentle. And not at all judgmental about how I hadn’t been to a dentist in so long. He was just like, ‘Well, you’re here now, it’s going to be okay.’ ”
He turned her into a regular; between 2006 and 2009, she saw him often. And while the work could be extensive — four cavities and at least one crown — she came to almost enjoy her visits.
Recently, however, when she spotted him at a Flagstaff antique store, she ducked out of the way. This time, she didn’t want the dentist to see her.
ADVERTISING
“I was with my friend,” she recalled, “And I turned to her and said, ‘What the hell happened to Paul Gosar?’ ”
You may have seen Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar in footage from Jan. 6, standing on the floor of the House of Representatives — an American flag mask hanging beneath his nose, his head bobbing up and down — objecting to the certification of Joe Biden’s presidency on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, shortly before insurrectionists attempted to break into the chamber to do the same. Gosar has devoted himself to former president Donald Trump’s false claims about his election loss, promoting “Stop the Steal” rallies, referring to President Biden as “an illegitimate usurper” and calling the angry masses who laid siege to the Capitol “peaceful patriots.”
If oral health is a good indicator of overall health, it’s fair to wonder about the state of the Republican Party with Gosar as a mouthpiece.
He’s tweeted eulogistically about Ashli Babbitt, a woman whose enthusiasm for QAnon — a sprawling set of false claims that have coalesced into an extremist ideology that has radicalized its followers — inspired her to storm the Capitol, where she was shot and killed by a Capitol Police officer while trying to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door outside the Speaker’s Lobby.
“They took her life,” the congressman wrote, apparently quoting a U2 song that was written about Martin Luther King Jr. “They could not take her pride.”
Rep. Gosar says Capitol police were 'lying in wait' to shoot Ashli Babbitt
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) on June 15 said a Capitol Police officer was "lying in wait" to shoot rioter Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 insurrection. (The Washington Post)
What were the Capitol rioters thinking on Jan. 6?
On top of his affection for the Jan. 6 rioters, Gosar has attended multiple events with Nick Fuentes, a white-nationalist activist who has described Gosar’s membership in Congress as a reason for hope.
Gosar’s evolution from the Arizona Dental Association’s 2001 Dentist of the Year to a conspiracy-minded, race-baiting congressman isn’t exactly surprising to anyone paying attention to today’s GOP and its associated right-wing media personalities, whose adoption of Trump’s personal bugbears has made conspiracy theorists of many rank-and-file Republicans.
And yet, to the people who knew Gosar as a mild-mannered dentist, it all feels shocking.
“Gosar the dentist had to be the real Paul Gosar,” said Anderson, the patient who became loyal to him due to his gentle, careful, nonjudgmental style. “It had to be. There’s no way that person was fake. Did he get brainwashed? Did the power get to this head? I honestly don’t know what could have happened.”
Gosar’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The dental profession, meanwhile, has been at pains to resolve its enthusiasm for having a dentist in Congress with the awkwardness of seeing that dentist using his profile to undermine public faith in elections. On Sunday, trustees of the American Dental Association determined that their political action committee should suspend future contributions to Gosar. Dentists who have known him for years have reprimanded him, both publicly and privately.
Among his patients, especially the liberal ones, the transformation of their favorite dentist has left a sour taste in their mouths.
“He did a nice little job on a color match to make a denture tooth match the rest of my teeth,” said Craig Beeson. “But now I’m repulsed thinking about it.”
“It’s really awful,” said Joseph Harte, a retired Episcopal priest who had a tooth yanked by Gosar. “To think of him putting his hands in my mouth just gives me the creeps.”
The name plate next to Rep. Paul Gosar's office in the Rayburn House Office Building alludes to his credentials in dental medicine. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Andy Kruse was never creeped out by Gosar's politics when he used to visit his office for checkups, although it was clear they didn't see exactly eye to eye politically.
“We’d have some debates — ribbing sessions, really,” said Kruse, a Democrat and businessman in the renewable energy field. “You don’t want to have a real argument with your dentist though. You’re in a pretty vulnerable position.”
Kruse was happy with Gosar’s dental care and willing to tolerate his politics, which didn’t seem too extreme at the time. In fact, the two men went out for dinner after Gosar went to Congress in 2011, and “I got the sense he wanted to ask me to join his team,” Kruse recalled.