After actor Kevin Costner threw his support behind Wyoming Republican Representative Liz Cheney in the upcoming midterm election, Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert attacked him—then was immediately trolled for it.
Boebert accused Coster—the Academy Award-winning director of Dances with Wolves—of "slumming with RINOs."
RINOS, or Republicans In Name Only, is a pejorative applied to officials elected as members of the Republican Party whose positions don't align with everything GOP leadership does. In recent years, the term has been applied to any Republican who criticizes or disagrees with former Republican President Donald Trump.
Boebert tweeted:
"How did Kevin Costner go from Dancing with Wolves to slumming with RINOs?"
\u201cHow did Kevin Costner go from Dancing with Wolves to slumming with RINOs?\u201d— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1659475929
Her tweet prompted a response from habitual Twitter troll Three Year Letterman (@3YearLetterman), who purposely misled her, referring to her as a "Senator" and saying Costner was not in Dances with Wolves, but in Field Dreams.
He was in both.
Three Year Letterman assured Boebert she was thinking of Big Lebowski actor Jeff Bridges who was in neither of those films.
\u201c@laurenboebert Kevin Costner was not in Dances with Wolves, Senator. He was in Field of Dreams. You\u2019re thinking of Jeff Bridges, so delete and correct this.\u201d— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1659475929
A visibly annoyed Boebert responded she is "not a Senator" and Costner "acted in and directed the dang thing."
\u201c@3YearLetterman I\u2019m not a Senator, and Kevin Costner acted in and directed the dang thing. Next!\u201d— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1659475929
Letterman replied demanding she refer to him as "Coach" and she not "ever question" him about movies, claiming to "own over 600 DVDs."
\u201c@laurenboebert Excuse me, but who do you think you\u2019re addressing like that? You address me as Coach, which is a higher title than Senator. And don\u2019t you ever question me about movies - I own over 600 DVDs stored in a rotating DVD with a strobe light. Delete this right now.\u201d— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1659475929
The exchange went viral and was applauded as an example of A+ trolling after Boebert took the bait.
\u201cI'm sorry but this will never get old.\u201d— Boat Shoes Woodson (@Boat Shoes Woodson) 1659533694
\u201cConfirming every single hunch we had about sideshow Boebert. \ud83d\ude02 Nice work Coach\u201d— Todd Parker (@Todd Parker) 1659535497
\u201cThis may be Coach\u2019s best yet.\u201d— Captain Jack Penguin (@Captain Jack Penguin) 1659535803
\u201cLegend\u201d— Edson Javier Ochoa (@Edson Javier Ochoa) 1659538348
\u201cI love this website. https://t.co/q2WiDd1whw\u201d— Ross Connolly (@Ross Connolly) 1659539115
\u201cCoach stays handing out punishment.\u201d— High Voltage (@High Voltage) 1659542866
\u201cAnother Blue Checkmark falls for the greatest troll on Twitter \ud83e\udd23\ud83e\udd23\u201d— Mark (@Mark) 1659542766
\u201camazing\u201d— Garrett M \ud83d\udc0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Garrett M \ud83d\udc0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1659533137
Cheney, who has received enormous praise for her work overseeing the House Select Committee's investigation into the January 6 insurrection, later touted Costner's endorsement, saying that "Real men put country over party."
\u201cReal men put country over party.\u201d— Liz Cheney (@Liz Cheney) 1659386242
Cheney's opponent, Harriet Hageman, has received former President Trump's endorsement. Hageman has backed Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 general election was stolen.
Cheney angered her own party and was ousted from her leadership position in the House after she pushed back against Trump's falsehoods about the 2020 general election. Trump had issued a statement, more than three months after President Joe Biden took office, calling Biden's victory "the big lie."
Cheney responded shortly afterward with a statement of her own affirming that the election "was not stolen," adding that anyone who says it was is "turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has long denied that the successful effort to remove Cheney from her position as the House's third-ranking Republican is in any way related to her vote to impeach Trump for inciting an insurrection against Congress.