Republican who spouts QAnon conspiracy theories and has a problem with Spongebob being gay elected to congress
Lauren Boebert has been elected to Congress. (EMILY KASK/AFP via Getty)
Lauren Boebert, a Republican who has spouted QAnon conspiracy theories and has a problem with Spongebob being gay, has been elected to Congress.
The far-right gun rights activist beat Democratic rival Diane Mitsch Bush in Colorado’s Third Congressional District on Wednesday (4 November) in a devastating blow for Democrats.
“Freedom wins!” Boebert tweeted as results rolled in. “This is a great victory for freedom and prosperity. Plus I have the honour of being the first mom to represent CO-03! It doesn’t get better than that. God bless America!”
Boebert, a first-time politician, gained international attention when she beat veteran Republican Scott Tipton in July’s primary after she hit out the incumbent for not being supportive enough of Donald Trump.
Lauren Boebert is a gun-rights activist who has voiced her support for QAnon conspiracy theories.
Lauren Boebert is a far-right gun toting activist who owns a restaurant called Shooter’s Grill in a town called Rifle where all of the waiters openly carry guns.
She was the subject of a media storm when she said in a May interview she was “very familiar” with the QAnon conspiracy theory, which baselessly argues that the world is being run by Satan-worshipping paedophiles who are plotting against Donald Trump.
“Everything that I’ve heard of Q, I hope that this is real because it only means that America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values,” she said in the controversial interview.
I don’t think a show that primarily caters to the 12 and under crowd needs reveal to the world that their lead character is gay, straight or anything else. Enough of the craziness with Spongebob.
She later disavowed the conspiracy theory and instead positioned herself as an opponent to the creation of a “socialist nation”.
Boebert also gained attention when she criticised Nickelodeon for hinting that the iconic children’s character Spongebob Squarepants was gay.
I don’t think a show that primarily caters to the 12 & under crowd needs to reveal to the world that their lead character is gay, straight or anything else.
Enough of the craziness with Spongebob.
— Lauren Boebert for Congress (R-CO3) (@laurenboebert) June 14, 2020
Writing on Twitter in June, Boebert said: “I don’t think a show that primarily caters to the 12 and under crowd needs reveal to the world that their lead character is gay, straight or anything else. Enough of the craziness with Spongebob.”
Early in her campaign, she claimed that she was raising her four sons to be “strong men” who would not need “safe spaces or government overreach”.
She said her sons would become strong men “from hard work and dedication” and said she was working to teach them “conservative values”.
She once turned up to a Beto O’Rourke rally with a gun.
Boebert also made headlines when she turned up to a town hall event for former Democratic presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke with a gun holstered to her side.
When O’Rourke spoke about his commitment to confiscate semiautomatic assault rifles, Boebert told him: “I am here to say, ‘Hell no, you’re not.'”
The congresswoman-elect has a huge following on Twitter, where she has recently been working to incite panic about a Biden presidency, telling her 200,000 followers that they will find themselves standing in “bread lines” if the Democrat takes the top office.
In the last week alone, she has hit out at Biden for advocating for greater gun control, telling him to write his “concession speech”.
Meanwhile, counting in the race for president is still ongoing, with the result still considered too close to count as Biden battles against Donald Trump for the nation’s highest office.e
