I am writing about the editorial that ran in The Denver Post with the headline “Attacks on Rep. Lauren Boebert that are sexist, elitist or based on rumors must stop.”
The editorial suggests that my remarks in response to questions posed by CNN on Monday included a claim that I saw Congressman Lauren Boebert “leading large groups of people through the Capitol in the days before the attack.” It then labels this assertion as “intentionally misleading,” and suggests that these remarks were part of a “media tour” I was conducting. I said I saw Congresswoman Boebert lead a group, not “groups,” in a tunnel near the Capitol, not in the Capitol, and I specifically said “now, whether they were people that were involved in the insurrection or not, I do not know.” Immediately after that, I was asked: “Do you know that any people who were in that tour led by Boebert later attended the riot?” My response: “I do not.”
Congresswoman Boebert is accusing me of saying she was leading a “reconnaissance” tour; those are her inflammatory words, not mine. Your assertion that my remarks raise “the specter of collusion” with the insurrectionists is your pure fabrication. I said in the interview that her tour could have been entirely innocuous; it’s you who are raising specters. Also, a single interview doesn’t constitute a “media tour.”
I’d like to raise two other points. First, the editorial mixes my remarks about seeing a tour she acknowledges having led with members of her family with statements made by unnamed others that you label “sexist” and “elitist,” terms used in your headline. Nothing I said could be construed as either sexist or elitist but your editorial tars me with that brush.
You’re aware that Congresswoman Boebert has some credible critics. I would reiterate what I said on CNN about her not being with the “home team.” Her remarks on the House floor and her assertion that “Today is 1776” on the morning of January 6 — before the insurrection — indicate why her calls for calm reflection and congressional camaraderie ring a bit hollow.
Steve Cohen is a member of Congress representing Tennessee’s 9th District which includes Memphis.
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