Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert’s previous activity on Twitter has become the subject of recent social media analysis as public calls for an investigation into her role in the attack on the Capitol continued to grow.
The Republican Congresswoman, elected to represent Colorado during the November general election, began her first term in the US House earlier this month. Along with other elected officials who made unfounded allegations of electoral fraud before the January 6 attack, Boebert now faces widespread criticism of the ways in which his actions precipitated the siege.
The story of Boebert’s tweet illuminates a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric.
The congresswoman’s excluded tweets, of which there are hundreds dating back about six months, consist mainly of posts advocating the preservation of the Second Amendment – a pillar of Boebert’s campaign and political platform – and supporting Donald Trump’s discredited allegations of fraud electoral.
In addition, several show their opposition to the ongoing COVID-19 mitigation measures to reduce the worsening virus outbreak in the country.
While Congress held joint sessions to certify electoral victory for President-elect Joe Biden on the first Wednesday of this month, a crowd of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol complex in a violent riot that resulted in five deaths and numerous injuries. One of the individuals who died was a Capitol police officer.
Protesters staged the attack as an act of protest against the outcome of the presidential election, which Trump and his followers consistently claimed to be illegitimate, despite no evidence to support their claims. The House accused Trump of inciting insurrection last week, with 10 Republican representatives voting in favor of his forced resignation. Boebert was not one of them. Politicians and members of the public also urged lawmakers who supported the unfounded allegations of incumbent electoral fraud by the incumbent president to step down.
Sarah Silbiger / Getty
Boebert continued to promote Trump’s baseless claims about rigged election results after the Capitol rebellion. On January 13, Boebert posted that her Twitter account was closed after a tweet she sent a few days earlier in which she alleged electoral fraud.
Hillary must be angry because it took the DNC until 2020 to successfully manipulate an election.
– Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 9, 2021
She replied, “They do this to thousands of conservatives every day. When the press reported the ban, it was lifted. What about the thousands of Americans who were banned and never heard from again?”
Twitter randomly closed my account with no explanation.
They do this to thousands of conservatives every day.
When the press reported the ban, it was lifted.
What about the thousands of Americans who have been banned and never heard from again?
– Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 13, 2021
Twitter later said Newsweek the suspension was a mistake, as a company spokesman said: “In this case, our teams took the wrong enforcement action. The Tweet in question is now labeled according to our Civic Integrity Policy. The Tweet will not be required to be removed and the account will not be temporarily blocked. “
Recently, 68 elected officials in Colorado formally requested an investigation into Boebert’s conduct before and during the Capitol attack in a letter to Pelosi last week. Some accused Boebert of revealing the movement of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi via Twitter while the riot was taking place, a possible security problem.
The speaker has been removed from the chambers.
– Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) January 6, 2021
On the day of the riot she also tweeted “Today is 1776”, referring to the year of the American Revolution. This was seen by many as an indication of the need for revolution after what Trump supporters saw as a stolen election.
Boebert’s communications director, Ben Goldey, resigned on Saturday from his post for just a few weeks.
Newsweek contacted Boebert’s office for comment, but received no response in time for publication.