Lauren Boebert’s Recent Joke: Contextualized for the Racist-Adjacent and Empathy Deficient:

Michael Tallon
4 min readDec 9, 2021

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Lauren Boebert — Racist Comedian

Some folks in my world seem to think that the recent uproar over Lauren Boebert’s often-repeated racist joke about Representative Ilhan Omar is much ado about nothing. I think that means they’re part of the problem. To clarify that, here’s her joke in its original form, and then it is retold a few times with slight variations on the theme.

I hope this helps. Lord knows we need it.

1. Original Material:

Boebert: “So, the other night on the House Floor, I had my first Jihad Squad moment. I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I, we’re leaving the Capitol and going back to my office, and we get into the elevator, and I see a Capitol police officer running, hurriedly to the elevator. I see sweat all over his face, and he’s reaching, and I’m like, “What!?”

The door is shutting, and I can’t open it. What’s happening???

Then I look to my left, and there she is — Ilhan Omar. And I said, “Well, she doesn’t have a backpack. We should be fine.”

*crowd chuckles

And I said, “Look, the Jihad Squad decided to show up for work today.”

*crowd erupts in laughter and applause.

Ba-dum-dum. Chissssss.

2. Boebert on Jews:

Boebert: “So, the other night on the House Floor, I had my first Dirty Jew Shekel Squad moment. I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I, we’re leaving the Capitol and going back to my office, and we get into the elevator, and I see a Capitol police officer running, hurriedly to the elevator. I see sweat all over his face, and he’s reaching, and I’m like, “What!?”

The door is shutting, and I can’t open it. What’s happening???

Then I look to my left, and there he is — Jamie Raskin. And I said, “Well, I don’t have my wallet with me. We should be fine.”

*crowd chuckles

And I said, “Look, the Dirty Jew Shekel Squad decided to show up for work today.”

*crowd erupts in laughter and applause.

Ba-dum-dum. Chissssss.

3. Boebert on Homosexuals:

Boebert: “So, the other night on the House Floor, I had my first Sodomite Squad moment. I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I, we’re leaving the Capitol and going back to my office, and we get into the elevator, and I see a Capitol police officer running, hurriedly to the elevator. I see sweat all over his face, and he’s reaching, and I’m like: “What!?”

The door is shutting, and I can’t open it. What’s happening???

Then I look to my left, and there he is — Sean Patrick Maloney. And I said, “Well, just don’t drop anything. You should be fine.”

*crowd chuckles

And I said, “Look, the Dirty Faggot Sodomite Squad decided to show up for work today.”

*crowd erupts in laughter and applause.

Ba-dum-dum. Chissssss.

3. Boebert on African American Men:

Boebert: “So, the other night on the House Floor, I had my first Black Mau-Mau Squad moment. I was getting into an elevator with one of my staffers. And he and I, we’re leaving the Capitol and going back to my office, and we get into the elevator, and I see a Capitol police officer running, hurriedly to the elevator. I see sweat all over his face, and he’s reaching, and I’m like: “What!?”

The door is shutting, and I can’t open it. What’s happening???

Then I look to my left, and there he is — Jim Clyburn. And I said, “Well, he’s probably too old to rape any more white women. We should be fine.”

*crowd chuckles

And I said, “Look, the Black Mau-Mau Squad decided to show up for work today.”

*crowd erupts in laughter and applause.

Ba-dum-dum. Chissssss.

— —

Look: It’s pretty fucking simple — if you refuse to condemn Lauren Boebert, you wear all of this sin. If you don’t demand she be punished for her racist bullshit, you are part of the problem. If you don’t defend your Muslim brothers and sisters now, you are part of the problem. If these examples of “humor” shock you — but you are willing to give Boebert’s original language a pass, then you are part of the problem.

Check. Your. Damn. Head.

Enough of this sickness. Enough.

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Michael Tallon
Michael Tallon

Written by Michael Tallon

Once a history teacher in Brooklyn, Mike took a sabbatical in 2004 to travel through Latin America. He never returned. He lives and works in Guatemala.

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