October 31, 2020 11:37 AM UTC

Lauren "Q*bert" Boebert: A Long, Strange Trip It's Been

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• by: Colorado Pols

In an interview Wednesday with Southern Colorado’s FOX 21 News, embattled CD-3 GOP candidate Lauren Boebert tried once and for all, presumably under the advice of national Republicans worried she may actually lose this R+6 seat next Tuesday, to put this “QAnon thing” behind her–awfully late in the game, given the number of votes already cast:

Following her upset in the June Primary, much of the national and regional attention media outlets gave her, was over her ties to the baseless conspiracy, QAnon. The conspiracy claims groups of political elites are kidnapping children and drinking their blood for immortality. She has attributed her knowledge of the group to her mother, but in the interview with FOX21, walked that back.

“I’m not a follower of QAnon,” Boebert said as she ended the interview. “My mom is not a supporter of QAnon, she just talked to me about it one time.”

While this new line is consistent with most of the Republican primary victors of 2020 who willfully trafficked in the QAnon conspiracy theory to gain Republican base support before having to walk it back under ridicule before a general election audience, unfortunately for Boebert it’s just not what she told QAnon whackadoodle Ann Vandersteel on camera:

VANDERSTEEL: Do you know about the Q movement? Are you familiar with what that is?

BOEBERT: I am familiar with that. That’s that’s more my mom’s thing. She’s a little fringe. I try to I just try to keep things on track and, and positive. I’m very familiar with it though. [Pols emphasis]

VANDERSTEEL: Do you think Q is a bad thing or or is it just sort I mean, what’s your opinion?

BOEBERT: No, uh honestly, um, everything that I’ve heard of Q, I hope it, I hope that this is real because it only means America’s getting stronger and better and people are returning to conservative values. And and that’s what I am for and so everything that I have heard of this movement is only motivating and encouraging and bringing people together stronger. And if this, if this is real, it could be really great for our country.

Obviously, there’s just no way to reconcile these two versions of events. No one coerced Boebert into claiming that she is “very familiar” with QAnon, or forced her to suggest that a movement the FBI has declared a domestic terror threat “could be really great for our country.” And yes, stating that Boebert’s mom only talked to her about QAnon “one time” after saying QAnon is “my mom’s thing” is…implausible.

Look, we get it. She’s politically clueless and now that she’s in a big league race she naturally regrets lumping herself in with a fringe conspiracy theory–or at least somebody tasked with getting her elected does. But in the era before Trump’s obdurate brand of never admit wrongdoing politics, the way you handled a gaffe like this was to actually apologize and promise to do better–not tell the voters something they can watch you say on video was never said.

If Boebert does hang on Tuesday, it’s not due to any favors she did herself.