Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado was sharply criticized after she responded to a photo posted by her colleague Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie, who angered many when he tweeted a family photo in which he and six family members each brandished a military-style weapon in front of a Christmas tree, with a picture of her four equally armed children.
"The Boeberts have your six," Boebert tweeted to Massie, using a military saying that means, "I've got your back" even though neither politician has military experience.
She added there would be "No spare ammo for you, though."
The Boeberts have your six, @RepThomasMassie!
(No spare ammo for you, though) pic.twitter.com/EnDYuXaHDF
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 8, 2021
Boebert's reference to "spare ammo" referred to Massie's decision to accompany the picture of himself, his wife and their four children with a plea for Santa Claus to "please bring ammo."
Merry Christmas! 🎄
ps. Santa, please bring ammo. 🎁 pic.twitter.com/NVawULhCNr
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) December 4, 2021
Both tweets come just days after a mass shooting occurred at Oxford High School in Oxford Township, Michigan.
Last week, James and Jennifer Crumbley, the parents of school shooter Ethan Crumbley, were arrested following an intense manhunt and charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter.
The Crumbleys had purchased the handgun used in the shooting as a Christmas gift for their son on Black Friday and stored it improperly.
The shooting has once again sparked a national debate on gun control and the merits of the Second Amendment. The school district, Oxford Community Schools, has confirmed it will conduct an investigation of the incident.
The insensitivity of Boebert's tweet opened her up to significant criticism not unlike the kind leveled against Massie earlier this week.
Tell me again where Christ said “use the commemoration of my birth to flex violent weapons for personal political gain”?
lol @ all the years Republicans spent on cultural hysteria of society “erasing Christmas and it’s meaning” when they’re doing that fine all on their own https://t.co/TOKE1SmY4C
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 8, 2021
They would be called terrorists because guns are only okay in the hands of white people according to conservatives
— Sailor_Kaalia (@Sailor_Kaalia) December 8, 2021
Are we supposed to guess which one is going to grow up to shoot a school?
— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) December 8, 2021
So this is how yet another GOP politician wants to celebrate the birth of Jesus?
Pathetic. https://t.co/JpwpzTegnm
— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) December 8, 2021
Lauren Boebert took a break from teaching her children to hate Muslims and love white supremacy to have them play with deadly weapons. Boebert PERFECTLY sums up today's GOP https://t.co/vcUywjsLKR
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) December 8, 2021
Gun safety = Gun Responsibility. @laurenboebert, the monster who murdered my daughter and 16 others was inspired by photos like this. Because of your incompetence as a parent, as a responsible gun owner and as an American I definitely see a future school shooter in this photo. https://t.co/AfMB2ZnK8I
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) December 8, 2021
If we know anything at all about America's gun fetish, it's that the children are either props or targets. https://t.co/DxssocuA15
— Brett Pransky (@BrettPransky) December 8, 2021
If a Black woman did this, CPS would be called and those kids would be taken away in 2.5 seconds. But if you’re an elected official in this country, you’re apparently immune to accountability. https://t.co/sE1D9Pe5Cl
— Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) December 8, 2021
Putting deadly assault weapons into children’s hands, shortly after a school shooting for the matter, is psychotic and desperate behavior https://t.co/1Tw1Mz5Me2
— Chef Harri$on 🧢 (@chef_harrison) December 8, 2021
She quickly got her kids, gave them weapons, and posed them in front of a Christmas tree as a political prop, to own the libs. Her husband has a domestic violence charge along with his indecent exposure. She has a drunk and disorderly and resisting arrest! Are the kids even safe? https://t.co/847SPzqKyv
— Mystery Solvent (@MysterySolvent) December 8, 2021
Among all the criticism she received, Boebert decided to respond to her congressional colleague Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
.@AOC uses her position as a Congresswoman to attack my boys with their Christmas presents.
Not a good look, Sandy… https://t.co/Yii8VUPHrV
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 8, 2021
However her attempt to shame AOC failed to garner her any support.
Her and @RepMTG. @mtgreenee are so #Jealous!!!
They should be, @AOC is so bad-ass, beautiful and a
SMART!! No no can't even spell the word smart.#ExpelLaurenBoebert#LaurenBoebertIsSoDumb#PureRawEvil#ETTD pic.twitter.com/WrnBu5zDKj
— FactCheckGirl 🌊💙😷🐈 (@NotTADayEither) December 8, 2021
Well, Bobo is a No no. 💙
— Hettie (@StHettie) December 8, 2021
Boebert was criticized in September after a TikTok video emerged showing her 8-year-old son playing alone next to her rifle.
The since-deletedvideo showed Boebert's son playing with cigarette lighters while left alone in a bedroom. Mere feet away was one of the Congresswoman's rifles, propped up against a bedframe.
The images were reviewed by Salon, which noted that the bedroom appears to be the same one Boebert used during her February Zoom video call with the House Natural Resources Committee.
During that call, Boebert showed viewers that the room has a bookshelf displaying several high-capacity rifles.
Boebert has previously claimed to be a "responsible gun owner."
She and her husband own Shooters Grill, a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, where staff members are encouraged to openly carry firearms.
@BrentTerhune/X and @VivekGRamaswamy/X