Trump endorses Lauren Boebert

Former President Trump announced on Wednesday that he was endorsing controversial far-right GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert (Colo.) for reelection in 2022.

“Congresswoman Lauren Boebert has done a fantastic job in her first term representing Colorado’s Third District. She is a fearless leader, a defender of the America First Agenda, and a fighter against the Loser RINOs and Radical Democrats,” Trump said in a statement issued through his Save America PAC.

“She will continue to be tough on Crime, strong on Borders, and always protect our under-siege Second Amendment. Lauren has my Complete and Total Endorsement for her reelection!” the former president added.

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President Donald J. Trump announces his endorsement of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert pic.twitter.com/Kau4zmFoif

— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) December 15, 2021

Trump’s endorsement comes less than 24 hours after the House passed legislation — crafted as a response to videos of Boebert making Islamophobic comments aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — that would create a special envoy role within the State Department to address Islamophobia worldwide. 

In the video, Boebert tells a story she alleges occurred when she was getting into an elevator with a staffer while they were making their way to leave the Capitol. She says that she saw a Capitol Police officer running toward the elevator all of a sudden.

“I see fret all over his face, and he’s reaching … The door’s shutting, like I can’t — I can’t open it — like, what’s happening? I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar. I said, ‘Well she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine,’” she said, as the audience in the video could be heard laughing.

Omar immediately denounced the version of events, calling Boebert a “buffoon” and said the Republican lawmaker made up the story.

A day later, Boebert apologized for her comments. However, Democratic leaders faced pressure to remove Boebert from her committee assignments.

“I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended with my comment about Rep. Omar,” Boebert said in a Tweet at the time. “There are plenty of policy differences to focus on without this unnecessary distraction.”

An ethics complaint against Boebert has been filed by another Muslim member of Congress, Rep. André Carson (D-Mich.), though it is not immediately clear how the complaint will be addressed.