Lauren Boebert shoots back at Dave Chappelle over ‘weaponising’ trans jokes claim
Lauren Boebert has responded to Dave Chappelle’s comments. (Anna Moneymaker/Arturo Holmes/Getty)
Right-wing Colorado representative Lauren Boebert is not happy with Dave Chappelle after the comedian accused Republicans of “weaponising” his trans jokes.
Responding to Chappelle’s claims, vehemently anti-LGBTQ+ politician Boebert stated: “You’re a comedian, be a little tougher.” She then called trans people a “joke.”
In 2021, Chappelle’s barbs as part of his Netflix special, The Closer, were branded transphobic. Since then, the comedian has been at the centre of the debate around trans jokes, and he continued to double down.
In a recent interview with NPR, Chappelle stated that he resented the fact that the Republican Party ran on trans jokes.
“I felt like they were doing a weaponised version of what I was doing. That’s not what I was doing,” he explained.
Chappelle then cited an event on Capitol Hill where he took pictures with people from congressional offices. Among them was Boebert.
“I didn’t want to say no in front of everybody, but I didn’t know the phrase ‘I respectfully decline.’ So I just took the picture,” Chappelle reflected.
“And then she posted the picture before I could even get from there to the show and says something to the effect of, ‘Just two people that know that it’s just two genders.’ Just instantly, like, weaponised or politicised.”
‘You’re a comedian, be a little tougher.’
The November 2023 post, which included a selfie of Boebert, Chappelle, and Republican representative Anna Paulina Luna, quickly went viral. In the caption, she suggested the three agreed that there were “only two genders.” The comment is a keystone of anti-trans rhetoric.
“So I got to the arena, and I lit her a*** up for doing that. And she should never do that to a person like me.”
Speaking to TMZ, Boebert defended her behaviour and said her post was an act of “stating facts.”
She said: “I don’t think I used his joke, though. I mean, transgenderism is a joke. There was no jab, I was just stating facts.”
When pressed that she used Chappelle like a political prop, Boebert responded: “You’re a comedian, be a little tougher.
“People say things about me all the time. I go in my comment section. Do you think I sit at home and cry about it, and just wait for NPR to show up and have a counselling session with them?”
