Colorado Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert posted a photo of her young children brandishing assault rifles in front of a Christmas tree on Tuesday.
Her post came three days after Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie drew intense backlash for a similar photo. It also came one week to the day after four people were killed at Oxford High School in Michigan by a 15-year-old whose parents are now charged with involuntary manslaughter for giving him access to a gun.
"The Boeberts have your six, @RepThomasMassie!" Boebert wrote above her photo. "(No spare ammo for you, though)"
Chicago Tribune columnist Rex Huppke was among those who expressed outrage over Boebert's photo.
"This is a sickness," Huppke wrote. "Any semblance of American decency is being ground into hamburger by people like Boebert. Do not lose your ability to be appalled. And do not underestimate the power of such poison."
Howard Forman, a professor at the Yale School of Management and a former U.S. Senate staffer, said Boebert and Massie appeared to be "competing to show the world that gun fetishism is alive and well; that exploiting your children to advance your career is ok; & teenagers that died last week are long forgotten."
MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan noted that Boebert's photo showed four children holding guns.
"That’s exactly the same number of kids gunned down and murdered by another kid with a gun just days ago," Hasan wrote. "This party is a death cult, part 335."
According to the Herald Times, Boebert's sons were ages 14, 12, 10 and 7 in January 2020, when she took office.
More below.
Always nice to make gun porn a family affair for the holidays... just like Jesus would want.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1468411381653323777\u00a0\u2026— Josh Jordan (@Josh Jordan) 1638933865
too much to hope for that the Colorado Department of Children\u2019s Services could save these kids I guess.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1468411381653323777\u00a0\u2026— Brian S. Faughnan (@Brian S. Faughnan) 1638933834
Lauren Boebert\u2019s husband showed his penis to young girls. That\u2019s probably why he\u2019s not in the picture. https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1468411381653323777\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/iIzPD43MLq— I'm That Type Of Guy (@I'm That Type Of Guy) 1638933501
Christmas in the Trumpocene. (GOP leaders from Nevada, Kentucky, Colorado.)pic.twitter.com/qgk9XunDL9— Jeff Sharlet (@Jeff Sharlet) 1638934406
Today\u2019s GOP is nuts. Certifiably nuts.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1468411381653323777\u00a0\u2026— Sage Petoskey (@Sage Petoskey) 1638932620
