Video disputes Boebert’s ‘no-show protest’ debt vote claim

A newly surfaced video of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) on the night of the debt-ceiling vote shows the Colorado Congresswoman racing up the steps of the Capitol to the vote, appearing to contradict her statements that she intentionally missed the vote in a “no-show protest.”

In the video, posted by a CNN producer to Twitter on Sunday, Boebert is seen running up the steps of the Capitol and turning away when told the vote had closed. 

“They closed it?” Boebert said to the producer, appearing to be surprised by what she heard. Boebert then turned back around and continued racing up the stairs. 

The House on Wednesday, took a late-night vote on a bill to suspend the debt ceiling for two years and to add some additional spending caps. The deal was struck last week by President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and was signed into law on Saturday, just two days before the United States had been slated to run out of money to pay its bills, according to the Treasury. 

The bill’s final vote count in the House had support from 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats, and it was opposed by 71 Republicans and 46 Democrats. Four members did not show up for the vote — Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Rep. Angie Craig (D- Minn.), Rep. Deborah Ross (D-N.C.), and Boebert.  

Boebert explained her nonvote as a “no-show protest” in a video posted Saturday on Twitter, but the new CNN video appears to show the Colorado congresswoman attempting to make it in time to cast her vote. 

“No excuses, I was ticked off they wouldn’t let me do my job, so I didn’t take the vote,” Boebert said in a self-filmed video posted Saturday. “Once again, Washington’s power machine shoved a multi-trillion dollar bill down our throats, refused to allow debate or amendments, disregarded everything we fought for in January to actually allow representatives to do their jobs and instead they served us up a crap sandwich.” 

“Call it a ‘no-show protest,’ but I certainly let every one of my colleagues and the country know I was against this garbage of a bill and against bypassing the voice of each representative. Deals cut in the dark are why we are headed towards $36 trillion in debt, and I refuse to be a part of it,” Boebert added.

In a statement to The Hill, Boebert’s spokesperson said, “When she missed the vote, she took accountability and said she had ‘no excuses.’ In response to the media characterizing the missed vote, she said you can ‘call it a no-show protest.’ She was adamantly opposed to the so-called ‘deal’ from the beginning, and even more so after Members were not allowed to amend the bill.”

—Updated at 6:08 p.m.