I used to think Lauren Boebert refused to do interviews with local reporters because she thought the journalists would be unfair. Now I realize that her fear of the media is because she comes across as an insufferable jerk – the kind of person who is out of step with the values of most of Coloradans.
Lauren Boebert went on Colorado Public Radio this week determined to take a stand against “the media.” But she was unable to pivot when the CPR journalist gave her an open mic, let her set the agenda, and then only offered minimal pushback to her false claims. The interview juxtaposes one of the most genuinely kind people in Colorado with someone who is filled with spiteful ire. The Colorado Matters interview is worth a listen if you’re thinking of voting for Boebert instead of Trisha Calvarese, the Democrat running in the race who lost the coin toss and was the second much more normal interview aired on CPR. I’ll spare most readers the agony of Boebert’s interview and give you the low lights.
Warner started the 30-minute interview with the softest of all soft-ball questions: What is the biggest issue in your district you’d like to tackle if elected to Congress?
Boebert, who is running to represent Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, replied the border crisis and water, and Warner graciously let those be the two topics he asked her about during the interview. He kicked it off by asking her to expand on what she had just said — that a wave of illegal immigrants were committing crimes: “In invoking the border crisis you talk about crime. I’ll just say researchers have repeatedly debunked the idea that immigrants, whether or not they are documented, commit crimes at higher rates than native-born Americans … Why do you talk about immigrants in the context of crime as opposed to the context of opportunity?”
Lauren’s response was ridiculous even before it got rude, but Warner let her have her say not interrupting her steady stream of falsehoods.
“Well, the folks who have come here under the Biden/Harris administration – the 10.6 million people who are now in our country — broke the law to get here, and I believe that we are a nation of law and it is the president’s upmost(sic) responsibility to secure our country.”
So, no, 10.6 million people have not come to America as immigrants (legal or otherwise) in the last 4 years. According to the Republican talking sheet “Border Crisis Startling Stats” put out by the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee – Mark Green – that “encounter data” is the number of people who have come into contact with U.S. Customs and Border Protection WORLDWIDE since the end of the fiscal year. The data includes every embassy across the world, every port of entry at every airport and, yes, millions of encounters on the southern border.
The second lie in her opening sentence was that most of the recent arrivals to America have come here illegally. In fact, the majority have entered America claiming asylum which gives them a temporary legal status while their cases are adjudicated.
The real number of migrants is quite large – an estimated 2.4 million migrants have entered America legally by claiming asylum on the southern border since Jan. 2021 — but many if not most of those individuals will have their asylum claims denied and will face deportation. They have arrived here not because our immigration policies have changed – asylum laws have remained unchanged for decades – but because conditions in Venezuela have resulted in a mass exodus of people fleeing to countries across North and South America.
It’s important to note that despite her lies, Warner let Boebert speak uninterrupted for almost 3 more minutes before she went off the rails all on her own.
“Since you mentioned ‘opportunity,’ it’s so unfortunate the way most media, especially a public media like CPR, poses questions and phrases them to make it seem so um to make it seem so insulting to want a secure country to want a secure border.”
Her snark and anger only went downhill from there.
Warner asked her about visas for migrant workers on the many farms in Colorado seeking laborers from outside the United States. Boebert called it “indentured servitude,” but also claimed that those using these visas to come to America, earn money and “go home and live like kings.” That’s insulting to every employer in Colorado using legal visas to bring workers here for honest pay – whether it’s peach pickers in the Grand Valley, ranch help along the Front Range or the ski industry in the mountains. Also, no one is going home to live like a king after making minimum wage for a summer in a country with one of the highest costs of living in the world.
At one point during the interview, Boebert claimed that inflation was rising. Warner offered that inflation is easing at the moment.
“Are we having a debate or an interview? … Oh you’re going to fact-check me during the interview? This is adorable.”
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No, Lauren, Warner asked you fair questions. There was no need to be so rude.
Warner thanked Boebert for her time and the response from Boebert dripped with sarcasm and odd emphasis.
“Thank you. Hope … you… have … a … wonderful … daaaay.”
Weird.
Mean and angry must just be who Boebert really is.
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