Far-right congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado became the most recent Republican House member to float an internship for vigilante shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.
Last year, a 17 year old Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin amid unrest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Armed with an AR-15, Rittenhouse guarded a car dealership before leaving the property and shooting three people, killing two of them. He was later charged with multiple counts of murder before being acquitted earlier this month.
Over the course of his trial, Rittenhouse became a hero of the right. Hours after a court hearing this year, he was spotted at a bar gleefully taking pictures with admirers, wearing a "free as f**k' tee shirt and flashing the "okay" sign—a sign famously co-opted by internet extremists to mean "white power."
Since his acquittal, right-wing Congressmen Matt Gaetz of Florida, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina have all publicly offered Rittenhouse an internship on Capitol Hill.
In comments on the far-right disinformation outlet Newsmax, Boebert threw her hat in the ring as well, challenging her friend and colleague Cawthorn—a wheelchair user—to a sprint.
Watch below.
On Newsmax, Lauren Boebert challenges Madison Cawthorn to a sprint, with the winner getting to have Kyle Rittenhouse as their intern pic.twitter.com/ZLi9mmxlN6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 24, 2021
Boebert told right-wing commentator Sebastian Gorka:
"Now I do have some colleagues on the Hill who have, just like me, offered Kyle Rittenhouse an internship in their office, and Madison Cawthorn, he said that he would arm wrestle me for this Kyle Rittenhouse internship. But Madison Cawthorn has some pretty big guns, and so I would like to challenge him to a sprint instead."
The bizarre attempt at a joke fell flat.
What. https://t.co/Er2ysXdaw5
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) November 24, 2021
It was the worst of times…full stop. https://t.co/e7PMST1x9L
— S.E. Cupp (@secupp) November 24, 2021
they are collectively like a self devouring monster of provocation and offense https://t.co/0XnxHbeLMx
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 24, 2021
A snapshot of how messed up American politics is: two members of Congress are fighting over who gets to hire a teenager who killed two people as an intern, and one challenges the other—who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair—to a sprint to decide it. pic.twitter.com/V1z52tbu7M
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) November 24, 2021
These people are a complete joke. https://t.co/trwDZnnqyl
— Matt Bartlett (@matt_bart) November 24, 2021
what is going ON https://t.co/82ZqmFjyqO
— v.o. (@vanillaopinions) November 24, 2021
Boebert and her ilk also faced backlash for their eagerness to hire a teenager who sought out unrest and killed two people.
If Covid-19 were a person, every House Republican would be stabbing each other to make it their guest to the State of the Union. https://t.co/lsirx2gPxf
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) November 24, 2021
It's a race to the bottom!! Winner gets a murdering loser!! https://t.co/ZN1u4YDOco
— Kc (@Kayak_Chap) November 24, 2021
These are the GOP's serious people. These ghouls are fighting over a child soldier to read tweets to them. Boebert and Cawthorn don't legislate. They just troll. https://t.co/3ZwoF1mqCf
— Jerimiah (@JSlanderz) November 24, 2021
Rittenhouse's lawyer has condemned the "disgusting" effort, claiming the politicians are working to profit off Rittenhouse's celebrity.
