Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert was criticized after she was seen running in and out of the Capitol women's room, claiming "a man" was in the bathroom, only to admit she got it wrong.
Boebert was reportedly overheard on the House floor recounting an encounter with Democratic Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware, the first transgender member of Congress, in the ladies' room. According to an unnamed GOP lawmaker speaking anonymously, Boebert claimed she told McBride, “You shouldn’t be here,” upon seeing her enter the restroom.
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However, the matter turned out to be a case of "mistaken identity," and the anonymous GOP source said:
"I overheard Boebert say she went to apologize."
In a statement afterward, Boebert admitted her error, saying:
"I made an error regarding a mistaken identity. I apologized, learned a lesson, and it won’t happen again."
Bloomberg reporter Billy House observed the incident and shared details on X, noting that he saw Boebert "bursting" out of the women's restroom in the House, "complaining to security personnel" about "a guy" being inside. According to House, he stayed to see who else would exit the restroom and reported that only four women emerged.
House added:
"Who would dare leave this scene now? Not me. Mace is author of the resolution prohibiting transgender women in the chamber from using the women’s restroom. But alas, just seconds after this duo entered the bathroom, they come back out -- and went back quietly to the floor."
"A bit of bathroom vigilantism? I later asked Boebert what this was all about, noting I had heard her complain there was "a guy" in there. To her credit, she acknowledged it was a mistake. "There was a rumor there was, but it wasn't true," she told me."
When approached by The Daily Beast, McBride said she was not confronted by Boebert, affirming her commitment to not breaking Johnson's rule on bathroom usage.
Boebert was swiftly mocked after news of her failed crusade went viral.
Boebert's trans panic is just the latest in a series of attacks against McBride that kicked off in November, when South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace garnered national attention for her campaign against McBride using the women's bathroom.
Mace introduced a resolution to bar McBride from using women’s facilities at the Capitol complex, has posted extensively on social media—hundreds of times—targeting transgender individuals, and made multiple media appearances advocating for anti-transgender policies.
Mace ramped up her transphobic attacks since House Speaker Mike Johnson backed her proposal and announced that transgender women would be prohibited from using women's bathroom facilities at the U.S. Capitol.
Though McBride is abiding by the House rules, she previously criticized the GOP, saying that "every single time we hear the incoming administration or Republicans in Congress talk about any vulnerable group in this country, we have to be clear that it is an attempt to distract.”
She encouraged listeners to consider "what they’re doing to pick the pocket of American workers, to fleece seniors by privatizing social security and Medicare. Look at what they’re doing, undermining workers.”
