Representative Lauren Boebert walks at Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
Dubbing her the "MAGA party girl," a new Intelligencer profile detailed Rep. Lauren Boebert's current political struggles as she faces a new avalanche of scandal and the Trump administration's ire over her stance on the Epstein files.
In the piece, published Wednesday, reporter Jake Lahut detailed the circumstances Boebert now finds herself in, as Democrats close in on their longstanding "dream" of kicking her out of office, something they have wished for since she first emerged as an outspoken MAGA firebrand after the 2020 election. Even Republicans, the piece noted, have been eager for choppy electoral waters to knock her down a peg.
"It has become a liberal dream to knock her out of office; Democrat Adam Frisch came close to doing so in 2022, losing by just 546 votes," Lahut explained. "Frisch told me even Republicans came up to him after the race to thank him for at least humbling Boebert a little. 'Boebert had some humility, but not a lot,' Frisch recalled. On Saturday, she accused her current [2026 midterms] challenger, retired two-star Navy rear admiral Eileen Laubacher, of being a 'Deep State Dem cosplaying as a moderate,' while trying to link her to progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: 'A little communism could be fun!'"
That confidence, Lahut detailed further, feels especially misplaced heading into the 2026 midterms. While Boebert has often been embroiled in messy scandals during her tenure in Washington, the damaging stories have been particularly prevalent during this cycle, making her an even more vulnerable target for Democrats.
"Despite the show of bravado, Boebert is fighting for her political life in a closer-than-expected reelection campaign under a cloud of controversies related to her personal life," Lahut detailed. "First, her 21-year-old son was arrested in August on charges of sexual exploitation of a child. Then last month, a recurring critic, David Wheeler, accused Boebert in a House Ethics Committee complaint of having sexual relationships with male and female staffers. The allegation of multiple same-sex affairs only amplified the scandal. Boebert opposes gay marriage and even released a video responding to the complaint where she said she is 'not a lesbian or bisexual.'"
Boebert also "finds herself in a tough spot" not just because of "the gleeful animosity of Democrats" over her personal ordeals, but also "the wariness of Trumpworld" to keep supporting her, especially after her dogged support for disclosing the Epstein files. As the profile noted, Boebert is currently the last of "four House Republicans who pushed the Epstein vote over the line" who is "still standing" as Election Day approaches. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his primary bid to a Trump-backed rival, Rep. Nancy Mace opted against reelection and Marjorie Taylor Greene resigned from Congress altogether rather than finishing her term.
"President Donald Trump threatened to pull his endorsement of Boebert in a Truth Social post earlier this year, after she campaigned with Massie, but he didn’t follow through," Lahut noted.
