Why Rep. Lauren Boebert's Holiday Card Has The Internet Seeing Red

Rep. Lauren Boebert is no stranger to controversy. As the New York Post notes, the Colorado congresswoman, who found fame after insisting on bringing a gun into congressional hearings, has a lengthy rap sheet stretching back to when she was a teenager. Boebert is widely believed to have encouraged the deadly January 6 Capitol riot by ominously tweeting, "Today is 1776" shortly before chaos erupted. She took to social media once again after refusing to walk through metal detectors on her way to work, arguing on Twitter, "I am legally permitted to carry my firearm in Washington, DC, and within the Capitol complex." Clearly, Boebert relishes causing a scene. 

Back in 2015, she was nabbed for disorderly conduct after intervening when local cops tried to arrest minors for underage drinking, per the Colorado Newsline. Just a year later, Boebert was charged with reckless driving and operating an unsafe vehicle after rolling her truck into a ditch, according to the Colorado Times Recorder. She was also arrested in 2010, after her two pit-bulls were accused of attacking a neighbor's dog, per the Colorado Sun, and in 2004 for attacking her future husband, Jayson Boebert, per the New York Post. More recently, the Republican lawmaker got in trouble for making Islamophobic comments about Ilhan Omar, as USA Today reported at the time. Boebert's latest attention-grab, however, really has Twitter going nuts.

Social media is buzzing about a new photo of Lauren Boebert's family. The image, which finds the controversial congresswoman posing alongside her four sons — each of whom is brandishing an assault rifle — in front of a Christmas tree, was shared on Twitter with a tag for Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie, who recently tweeted his own viral Christmas photo showcasing his children holding guns. The responses were swift and cutting, with several users pointing to the recent shooting in a Michigan high school that left four students dead, while others called for greater gun control regulation across the board. 

Boebert's fellow congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez retweeted the picture, writing, "Tell me again where Christ said 'use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain?'" She added, "Lol @ all the years Republicans spent on cultural hysteria of society 'erasing Christmas and it's [sic] meaning' when they're doing that fine all on their own." Boebert responded, shaming Ocasio-Cortez for "attacking" her kids for posing with their "Christmas presents." It's worth noting, per the New York Times, accused school shooter Ethan Crumbley reportedly received the gun he used to murder four students as a Christmas present.