Democrats pounced on Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado after the GOP lawmaker issued an innocuous tweet in the wake of a shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs that left several dead and others wounded.
Boebert described the shooting as “awful,” said that she was praying for the victims and their relatives, and added that unlawful violence must stop.
“The news out of Colorado Springs is absolutely awful. This morning the victims & their families are in my prayers. This lawless violence needs to end and end quickly,” Boebert tweeted.
Transgender Colorado state Rep. Brianna Titone called for Boebert’s resignation and claimed that the GOP lawmaker has blood on her hands.
“Thanks for the ‘thoughts and prayers’ but that does nothing to offset the damage that you directly did to incite these kinds of attacks on the LGBTQ+ community. You spreading tropes and insults contributed to the hatred for us. There’s blood on your hands. Just resign,” Titone tweeted.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York tweeted, “@laurenboebert you have played a major role in elevating anti-LGBT+ hate rhetoric and anti-trans lies while spending your time in Congress blocking even the most common sense gun safety laws. You don’t get to ‘thoughts and prayers’ your way out of this. Look inward and change.”
California state Sen. Scott Wiener highlighted a June tweet in which Boebert had declared, “Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.”
“You regularly pour lighter fluid on anti-LGBTQ hate & help fuel this kind of violence. This bar was literally scheduled to host a drag brunch this morning — the exact people you regularly demonize as harming children,” Wiener tweeted. “You’re complicit.”
According to the nightclub’s Facebook page, Club Q had been planning to hold an “ALL AGES DRAG BRUNCH” on Sunday.
“Your record ‘is absolutely awful.’ You use hateful rhetoric towards the LGBTQ+ community and helped block even modest efforts to end gun violence. You’re also one of the reasons we put metal detectors outside the House floor,” U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York tweeted.
Last week, Democratic challenger Adam Frisch conceded to Boebert in the extremely close election contest for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Boebert has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2021.