The Transformation Of Lauren Boebert

Controversy and Lauren Boebert have gone hand in hand, even before the Colorado politician was elected to Congress in 2020. A pro-gun activist who quickly catapulted to the national stage, Boebert has carved out a niche in Congress as one of the most loyal footsoldiers in Donald Trump's MAGA movement. During her relatively brief time in Congress, she's endured numerous scandals, miraculously managing to emerge relatively unscathed. 

A divorced mother of four sons, Boebert became a grandmother at age 36 when her eldest son became a teen dad. "He is very excited to be a father," Boebert said when announcing the news at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2023, as reported by the Denver Post. "My mom was 18 when she had me, which inspired me to be a mother when I was 18 years old," she added, referencing becoming a grandma while still in her 30s.

As political junkies know, the Republican congresswoman has developed a knack for drawing attention to herself — a talent that has both assisted and hindered her political career. To find out more about how a gun-loving high-school dropout came to national political prominence, read on to experience the transformation of Lauren Boebert.

While many politicians on Capitol Hill were born with the proverbial silver spoon in their mouths, that was decidedly not the case with Lauren Boebert. Boebert's mother, Shawna Bentz, was just a teenager when she became pregnant with the future Colorado congresswoman, who was born when Bentz was 18. Boebert was just 4 years old when she accompanied her mom on a bus trip from Florida to Colorado, to live with a man she hardly knew. That didn't last long; they soon returned to Florida, living in with a different boyfriend, before ultimately returning to Colorado to move back in with the original guy. "My mom could be, in a word, 'flighty,'" Boebert wrote in her memoir, "My American Life," via The Washington Post.

To this day, Boebert has no idea who her father is. For years, Bentz maintained that it could be Stan Lane, a professional wrestler with whom she had a brief dalliance in the 1980s. Lane took a court-ordered paternity test, which determined he wasn't Boebert's dad. Two decades later, Bentz discovered that a staffer in the lab where the tests were performed had taken a bribe to switch test results, and began legal proceedings that ultimately forced Lane to be tested a second time. "They were conclusive that I had a 0.0% chance of being the biological father," Lane said of that subsequent test in a statement to PW Insider.

Boebert also issued a statement, to the Daily Beast: "I can confirm that Stan Lane is not my biological father. I personally have never publicly claimed he was my father — but certainly, that allegation is out there."

The child of a teen mom, Lauren Boebert continued that particular family tradition when she too became pregnant as a teenager; she and her future husband, Jayson Boebert, eventually welcomed their first child, son Tyler. Because of the pregnancy, Boebert was forced to drop out of high school. "I was a brand-new mom, and I had to make hard decisions on successfully raising my child or getting to high school biology class," Boebert told the Durango Herald in defense of her decision. "And I chose to take care of my child." (Boebert eventually attained her GED, months before she was elected to Congress in 2019).

As a high-school dropout, her career options were limited. That led her to employment in the world of fast food, landing a job at a McDonald's outlet. She did well at McDonald's, working her way up the ladder until eventually becoming the restaurant's manager. "Businesses like [McDonald's] are so vital to communities, and to helping people not only get a start, but to provide jobs that people could actually stay connected to for the rest of their lives," Boebert told the Herald. "And they're often overlooked, as you know, mediocre or lesser-than, but they're opportunity-creators, and I'm just so grateful to have had that experience."

Drawing on her McDonald's experience in the hospitality industry, Lauren Boebert opened up her own restaurant. Situated in the Colorado town of Rifle, the aptly named "Shooters Grill" boasted a unique gimmick: the serving staff all sported holstered weapons while they took orders and brought diners their meals.

Understandably, an open-carry eatery in which both staff and customers are heavily armed was met with a certain degree of controversy. For Boebert, that was the point, as the restaurant wasn't just a business, it was also her own personal statement about the Second Amendment. 

Firearms, however, weren't the only controversy to engulf Shooters Grill. In 2017, numerous Rifle residents reported they were suffering from some nasty symptoms, including nausea, abdominal pain, and bloody diarrhea after eating food at a local rodeo that had been supplied by Boebert's restaurant; an investigation by the Rifle office of Garfield County Public Health uncovered all manner of food-safety concerns and violations, concluding that those symptoms were the result of food poisoning resulting from the consumption of tainted pork sliders.

Shooters Grill closed its doors in the summer of 2022 when the owner of the building refused to renew the lease. "It's been an amazing journey," she told Rifle's Post Independent of the restaurant's closure. "I don't regret anything. It's always sad to close a chapter. But this is where we're at."

By 2019, Lauren Boebert had established herself as a pro-gun activist, coasting on the notoriety of owning the only restaurant in America where the wait staff brandished loaded handguns on their hips. In September of that year, Boebert made national headlines when she confronted Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke while he campaigned in Colorado, challenging his declaration that he would ban assault weapons. "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15," O'Rourke said in a fiery speech during the 2019 Democratic debate (via The Guardian).

Boebert, however, begged to differ. "I am here to say, Hell no, you're not," Boebert told him during the town hall. "I would like to know how you intend to legislate evil because it is not the gun, it is the heart of the man that does that" (via YouTube). Boebert struck a conservative chord, and her stunt earned her an interview on Fox News. 

Boebert also opposed Colorado gun-control legislation and announced that she was running for Congress as a Republican. She quickly gained a following among her district's more right-wing constituents. "We've never seen a candidate like Lauren — ever," Edward Wilks — an ex-cop who owned a gun store and was a member of the Oath Keepers militia — told the Colorado Sun.

As a congressional candidate, Lauren Boebert's maverick streak dovetailed with her interest in QAnon-fueled conspiracy theories when America was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, while Colorado mandates remained in place for restaurants to remain shuttered, Boebert defiantly announced that Shooter's Grill was open for business. 

"So I made the decision to open Shooter's Grill without permission of my government," Boebert told KKCO 11 News. "I called the sheriff, I've called the chief of police, public health, City of Rifle, our commissioners, everybody wants to pass the buck, no one knows who's in charge, because nobody's ever experienced anything like this. No one has ever restricted their people like this here in America." That decision didn't sit well with authorities; she was hit with a cease-and-desist order, which she ignored. The restaurant's food license was subsequently suspended.

Meanwhile, Boebert's attention-grabbing stunts caught the eye of then-President Donald Trump, whose campaign asked her to attend his Independence Day rally at Mount Rushmore. The following month, Trump's team invited her to watch his Republican National Convention nomination acceptance speech at the White House Rose Garden; Trump even tweeted an endorsement of Boebert. Within the span of just a few short months, Boebert had transformed from rabble-rousing gun enthusiast to rising star in Trump's Make-America-Great-Again movement.

As a right-wing MAGA candidate, Lauren Boebert displayed a canny knack for garnering publicity, quickly becoming a national figure during her congressional run. She continued to be associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory, something she simultaneously embraced while distancing herself from its more extreme beliefs. "Honestly, everything I hear 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, and that is what I am for," Boebert said during an appearance on the QAnon-supporting "Steel Truth" podcast, as reported by CBS News. "And so, everything I have heard of this movement is only motivating and encouraging and bringing people together, stronger, and if this is real, then it would be really great for our country."

When the votes were counted, Lauren Boebert emerged victorious against five-term Democratic Congressman Tim Tipton, becoming the Representative for Colorado's 3rd District. "She brings a certain amount of excitement to the Republican Party on the Western Slope that I don't know we've had for a while," Kevin McCarney, chair of Mesa County's Republican Party, told the Denver Post.

Upon winning the election, Roll Call lumped Boebert together with Georgia politician Marjorie Taylor Greene, in a feature declaring that two QAnon supporters had won seats in Congress.

Pretty much immediately after being elected to Congress, Rep. Lauren Boebert became embroiled in controversy when she expressed her support of Donald Trump's baseless and ultimately disproven claims that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged in Joe Biden's favor. "I am very tired of hearing about fixing election fraud going forward," Boebert tweeted. "An election just happened. There was fraud. Fix that one first!"

Then there was the furor over her campaign expenses. As the Denver Post reported, Boebert had paid herself $22,259 in reimbursements for mileage during her campaign. As the Post pointed out, despite having just a handful of campaign events during that period, she would have had to have driven 38,712 miles to justify that amount — more than the circumference of the entire planet. An investigation was subsequently launched after it was revealed that she had — perhaps not coincidentally — paid off a $22,000 tax lien for her restaurant shortly after receiving the reimbursement. Ultimately, the Federal Election Commission dismissed a complaint lodged against her, and no formal action was taken.  

Boebert again found herself under scrutiny after failing to disclose that her husband, Jayson Boebert, had earned nearly $500,000 in fees during 2019, working as an energy consultant — shortly before she secured her role as an ally of the oil and gas industry in Congress.

January 6, 2021, has gone down in history as one of America's darkest days, when a mob of Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Lauren Boebert's behavior during the day of the insurrection has raised questions, such as her incendiary tweet comparing that date to the American Revolution: "Today is 1776." Later in the day, she tweeted that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi "had been removed from the chambers" — which critics claimed was her way of informing the mob of Pelosi's location during the riot.

Her actions on that date led Denver Post opinion columnist Ian Silverii to call for either her resignation or expulsion. "Allowing her to complete the rest of her term could be a security risk to her fellow lawmakers," Silverii wrote. "If Boebert isn't held accountable for these actions, what on earth will she do next?" 

Meanwhile, a group called Rural Colorado United issued a press release calling for her expulsion from Congress. "Lauren Boebert has betrayed the American people and is a conspirator in the insurrection that occurred at Capitol Hill on January 6th," read the release, via The Independent. "As the citizens she represents in Congress, we cannot recall her and we cannot impeach her, but we do not accept that she is fit to represent the people of Colorado District 3 in Congress. We can only hope that her colleagues in Congress expel her."

Since being elected to Congress, Lauren Boebert has never been terribly concerned with decorum. That was the case when she infamously heckled President Joe Biden while he delivered his 2022 State of the Union speech. Meanwhile, her record as a lawmaker has not been great; she's introduced well over a dozen bills, but only one has passed (the Pueblo Jobs Act). However, that statistic might not be as damning as it looks. "All Republicans are facing the same situation in a very partisan environment," Boebert's deputy chief of staff, Benjamin Stout, told the Aspen Daily News.

Then again, a few of those bills have been a little wacky. That was certainly the case with a bill attempting to overturn the federal mandate requiring the use of face masks in federal spaces during the pandemic. 

That was also in play when she introduced articles of impeachment against Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2021, accusing them of "giving aid and comfort to America's enemies and colluding with the Taliban." Despite that effort going nowhere, Boebert tried again in 2023, introducing another article of impeachment that accused Biden of abusing the powers of his office by violating federal immigration law. That effort to impeach Biden also failed. 

In 2022, Lauren Boebert was up for re-election. This time, her Democratic opponent was Adam Frisch, who gained traction by insisting that Colorado voters were growing weary of Boebert's attention-getting antics, which he dismissed as "angertainment." Boebert once again won, but her victory was far narrower this time. In fact, the voting had been so close that a recount needed to be held. That recount, however, confirmed that Boebert was indeed the winner, squeaking by with just 546 more votes than Frisch. 

Apparently reading the writing on the wall, Boebert decided drastic action was needed ahead of the 2024 election. To increase her odds of winning, she decided to switch districts, abandoning Colorado's 3rd Congressional District and instead running in the 4th, which was seen as far more favorable to Republicans. "I did not arrive at this decision easily," Boebert said in a Facebook video in which she announced her district switcheroo. "A lot of prayer, a lot of tough conversations, and a lot of perspective convinced me that this is the best way I can continue to fight for Colorado, for the conservative movement, and for my children's future." She faced off against a group of challengers, but ultimately won the Republican primary in the 4th District.

The congresswoman's personal life rose to the forefront in May 2023 when Lauren Boebert filed for divorce, ending her 18-year marriage to husband Jayson Boebert. Citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split, Boebert commented on the divorce in a statement to the Colorado Sun. "It is with a heavy weight on my heart that I have filed for divorce from my husband," she stated. "I've always been faithful in my marriage, and I believe strongly in marriage, which makes this announcement that much more difficult."

The situation grew complicated in early 2024 when a dinner with her ex-husband turned ugly. As The Hill reported, a 911 call required police to respond to a report of "domestic violence abuse," with Boebert accused of punching her ex in the nose. "Due to a lack of any evidence, the allegations of Domestic Violence against Rep. Lauren Boebert are unfounded and the investigation into Rep. Lauren Boebert is closed," said a police spokesperson in a statement. "This is a sad situation for all that keeps escalating ... I didn't punch Jayson in the face and no one was arrested," the congresswoman added in a statement. 

Shortly after that incident, Jayson was arrested after an armed altercation with their 18-year-old son, Tyler. Boebert was awarded a temporary restraining order against her ex, which she later dropped. 

By the later part of 2023, newly divorced Lauren Boebert had clearly moved on. While in Denver, she went on a date with a new beau, Quinn Gallagher, taking in a theatrical production of "Beetlejuice." As the Denver Post reported, Boebert and her date were asked to leave due to "causing a disturbance" in the theatre, which included recording the show on a phone, singing along, and smoking a vape. According to an usher, they were warned repeatedly about their behavior; when they were finally asked to leave, they refused — with Boebert pulling rank by pointing to her status in Congress and threatening to call the mayor.

While she initially denied being disruptive, a  was released that featured even more details, including Broebert and her date enthusiastically making out and groping each other during the performance. With another election looming, further damage control was required. 

"The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I'm truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community," she said in a statement, via the Colorado Sun. "While none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that." She continued by claiming her "difficult divorce" had "made for a challenging personal time ... I simply fell short of my values on Sunday. That's unacceptable and I'm sorry."