Rep. Lauren Boebert was due for a bit of good news.
The Colorado firebrand and her family have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately.
But former President Donald Trump just did his part to change that trajectory.
In a post on the social media platform Truth Social on Saturday, the 45th president weighed in on his preference to succeed outgoing GOP Rep. Ken Buck in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District — and Boebert had to like it.
“Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is a Proven Conservative and Effective Leader who delivers for Colorado, and our America First agenda,” Trump wrote.
“She has led the fight to Impeach Joe Biden, Stop Illegal Immigration, Defend the Second Amendment, Protect our Wonderful Ranchers and Farmers, Support our Military and Veterans, Secure our Natural Resources to Pursue Energy Dominance, and Stand Up to the Radical Democrats who want to Destroy our Beautiful Country.
“Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is a trusted America First Fighter, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District!”
Americans who follow politics have been seeing a lot of bad news about Boebert for months.
Her all-too-public — and, frankly, pretty trashy — return to the dating scene in September, amid a messy divorce, generated criticism from the left and the right.
Sbould Lauren Boebert be elected to Congress in her new district?
Yes: 98% (301 Votes)
No: 2% (6 Votes)
News stories about a public altercation with her estranged husband in January were followed by more news stories a few days later about that estranged husband being arrested in relation to a fight with the couple’s eldest son, Tyler, 18.
Then, last week came news stories about the arrest of that same son on multiple felony charges.
A woman with a target already on her back for being a vocal Republican, Boebert had become a sitting duck for attacks, and that unqualified endorsement from Trump had to come like a burst of sunshine.
And Boebert’s response on the social media platform X certainly made it sound like she took it that way:
“It’s my honor to have the endorsement of the greatest President our country has ever known – Donald J. Trump,” she wrote.
It’s my honor to have the endorsement of the greatest President our country has ever known – Donald J. Trump.
It will be such a privilege to work alongside him in 2024 to deliver results for Colorado & get the entire country back on track! pic.twitter.com/fk181I7dzZ
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) March 2, 2024
As an aside, that might be just a little overboard. There’s no doubt Trump was a good president. He might well qualify as “great” — particularly compared to the senescent obscenity in the White House now. But “the greatest” might be putting on the dog just a little.
Washington and Lincoln are tough to top, after all. Reagan is in the running, too, though Boebert, God bless her, is too young to remember him much.
Regardless, there’s no doubt Trump is up there, particularly in the minds of contemporary Republicans, and his endorsement is no doubt a boost for Boebert politically — and one she could use.
Even without the recent barrage of bad headlines, she’s a newcomer to Colorado’s 4th. Her House service so far has represented the 3rd District. She’s switching after an agonizingly close re-election race in 2022 was decided by only 546 votes.
She’s not going to have an easy run of it in the new district. According to The Denver Post, in a straw poll taken during a congressional debate Jan. 25, she finished fifth among the nine Republicans participating.
The sample was ludicrously small — only 100 Republicans who attended the debate out of more than 190,000 who live in the district, the Post noted — but it just might “provide an initial peek into the kind of ground game the 37-year-old congresswoman will have to stand up to secure the nomination in a part of the state that doesn’t know her well.”
The good news, however, is that if she wins the June 25 primary, she’s likely on a glide path to victory.
Republicans have a 26-point edge in the district, according to Colorado Public Radio, so the primary election will be the de facto decider. If Boebert can make it there, she won’t likely be anywhere near a nail-biting finish like the country saw in 2022.
Whether Boebert’s record for conservative votes and reputation for conservative causes, along with Trump’s endorsement, will be enough to win in the new district remains to be seen, of course, but there’s no denying Boebert could have used some good news.
Over the weekend, she got it.
