Willie R. Tubbs, FISM News
A photo featuring Colorado Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s family gathered around a Christmas tree, while armed, drew the ire of Democratic partisans Wednesday, but an earlier controversy has become the more direct threat to her political future.
Tuesday night Boebert tweeted a photo to fellow Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) in which Boebert and her four sons were seen standing in front of a Christmas tree, each son holding a firearm.
The Boeberts have your six, @RepThomasMassie!
(No spare ammo for you, though) pic.twitter.com/EnDYuXaHDF
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 8, 2021
The tweet was in response to a post Massie made four days earlier in which he and his family requested ammunition from Santa Claus.
While Massie received some criticism after he posted his photo – in his picture, Massie, his wife, and their five children were all armed – Boebert’s snapshot netted the more vociferous reaction.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez openly questioned Boebert’s Christian faith in a pair of tweets:
When you pose in front of a Christmas Tree and can name all those guns but can’t name the gifts of the Wise Men 🥴🥴🥴
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 8, 2021
The Democrat later added, “When you pose in front of a Christmas Tree and can name all those guns but can’t name the gifts of the Wise Men” and included a series of emojis.
Boebert, arguably the Republican answer to Ocasio-Cortez inasmuch as both are firebrands with a skill for arousing anger from the opposite side of the political spectrum, fired back by accusing Ocasio-Cortez of attacking the Boerbert children.
.@AOC uses her position as a Congresswoman to attack my boys with their Christmas presents.
Not a good look, Sandy… https://t.co/Yii8VUPHrV
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 8, 2021
This is the second time in as many months that Boebert has run afoul of progressives, but this week’s gun photo is substantially less threatening to her political future than her previous issue.
Last month, Boebert was filmed referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as, among other things, a member of the “jihad squad.”
Boebert tweeted out a general apology for her remarks, but this was not viewed a sufficient by Omar and more than 40 additional Democrats who demanded a direct public apology.
I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar. I have reached out to her office to speak with her directly. There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) November 26, 2021
On Wednesday, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) introduced a resolution to have Boebert removed from her committee assignments, stating “There must be accountability.”
Today, I’m leading a resolution to remove Rep. Boebert from her committee assignments.
Her dangerous behavior & hateful, Islamophobic rhetoric has no place in our society & only emboldens further violence.
There must be accountability. pic.twitter.com/oOZnUpN71R
— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@RepPressley) December 8, 2021
Boebert has responded by using the criticism as a means of galvanizing her base. In a late-Wednesday tweet, she pledged to fight back and linked to a page on which supporters could donate to her pending reelection campaign:
I didn’t get elected to back down to the liberals & Cancel Culture.
If they think I will just roll over & give up, they’ve got the wrong one!
They’re coming for me harder than ever – trying to silence the voice of my constituents.
Stand with me today: https://t.co/Zo4xyj2dLm
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 9, 2021
Boebert is currently a member of just two committees, the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Budget.
If removed, Boebert would be the third representative, and third Republican, to have been penalized in such a way in 2021. House Democrats have previously stripped Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona of their committee memberships.