Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has walked back her assertion that she was not vaping in a crowded Denver theater last weekend when she was kicked out of the venue. After surveillance footage emerged appearing to call BS on her claim, the Colorado Republican on Friday admitted in a statement that “it’s clear now that was not accurate.”
“Whether it was the excitement of seeing a much-anticipated production or the natural anxiety of being in a new environment, I genuinely did not recall vaping that evening when I discussed the night’s events with my campaign team while confirming my enthusiasm for the musical,” she said in a statement shared with The Daily Beast.
In a subsequent text message to The Daily Beast, Boebert said she hoped people would understand her mistake.
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“There’s not a person walking the face of this planet that hasn’t had a moment of weakness and fallen short and I think people will get that,” she wrote. “I’ll show strength through humility moving forward.”
Writing in the statement that she never intended to “mislead” anyone, she added: “We know we will have to work to earn your trust back and it may not happen overnight, but we will do it.”
“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. 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 said, noting that she has been going through a “challenging personal time” following a “public and difficult divorce.”
After Boebert’s ejection from a live production of the Beetlejuice musical made headlines over the weekend, a spokesperson played down claims that she’d engaged in bad behavior in the theater, saying she was “guilty” only of “singing along, laughing and enjoying herself.” A woman who said she was seated behind the congresswoman at the musical told The Denver Post she had asked Boebert to stop vaping because she is pregnant, but the response she got was a curt, “No.”
“I’ve never seen anyone act like that before,” the unnamed woman was quoted as saying.
