Republican Lauren Boebert gets dragged at congressional dinner over Beetlejuice incident
Republican representative Lauren Boebert. (Getty)
Republican representative Lauren Boebert has been mocked at a congressional dinner after an incident at a theatre last year where she was seen vaping, disturbing other patrons and groping her date.
Boebert was the target of fellow Republican Lisa McClain at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s annual congressional dinner, on Wednesday (31 January).
“Please keep your hands above the table and I know it’s date night for some of you, but no inappropriate touching,” Michigan congresswoman McClain told attendees.
“That includes you, Lauren Boebert. No vaping either,” she added.
A video of the speech, which was posted on X/Twitter, has gained more than 3,000 likes, with many joining the joke at Boebert’s expense.
McClain’s taunt referred to an incident last September that resulted in Boebert, who has accused the LGBTQ+ community of sexualising children and spaces, being kicked out of a performance of family-friendly musical Beetlejuice at The Buell Theatre in Denver.
CCTV footage taken inside the theatre’s auditorium showed the Colorado representative and her male companion fondling each other, taking photographs with the flash on and vaping during the performance.
Following the incident, Boebert apologised, saying that she acted “maybe overtly animated”, partly blaming her actions on her divorce.
The politician has also faced criticism for her anti-abortion stance, denying climate change and deliberately misgendering a trans person.
Boebert’s bid to win re-election to the House of Representatives hit a snag last month when a she suffered a humiliating fifth-place finish in Colorado district straw poll recently.
In December, she announced plans to move from the third congressional district, where she has served since 2021, to the more-Republican-leaning fourth district, in a bid to improve her chances of re-election.
She defended her decision to switch districts, claiming that she and her family needed a fresh start.
