- Kinzinger called fellow GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert "TRASH" over her anti-Muslim remarks.
- Boebert told a story about riding in an elevator with Omar, adding: "Well, she doesn't have a backpack. We should be fine."
- Kinzinger retweeted a Republican primary challenger to Boebert who said "help me take out the trash."
Rep. Adam Kinzinger retweeted a primary challenger to fellow Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert after the Colorado lawmaker told a story about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar that included an anti-Muslim comment about a backpack.
A video posted on Twitter on Thursday by PatriotTakes — an organization that researches and monitors "the extremism and radicalization of the far right" — showed Boebert at a campaign event recounting a supposed run-in with Omar at the US Capitol.
Boebert said she stepped onto an elevator with Omar on her way back to her office after a vote, prompting a Capitol Police officer to run towards the elevator with "fret all over his face." Boebert described being confused about the encounter before noticing Omar standing in the elevator with her.
"Well, she doesn't have a backpack. We should be fine," Boebert said she told the officer.
Boebert said she then turned to Omar and added, "Oh look, the Jihad Squad decided to show up for work today." "Jihad Squad" is a derisive term for the Squad, a group of six progressive members of Congress who are all people of color. Omar denied the story while calling Boebert a "buffoon."
"Boebert is TRASH," Kinzinger tweeted, joining Democrats in condemning Boebert's remarks.
He then retweeted Marina Zimmerman, a Republican primary challenger to Boebert, who asked readers to "help me take out the trash."
—Marina Zimmerman for Congress (@Marina4Colorado) November 26, 2021
This is not the first time Kinzinger has boosted Zimmerman. In early September, he retweeted her and used the hashtag #boebertELee, an apparent reference to Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
—Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) September 9, 2021
Zimmerman, a longtime crane operator who's worked in the construction industry, has sought to cast Boebert as a self-serving lawmaker who's more concerned with touting conspiracy theories than doing the work necessary to serve constituents.
"She's just all about QAnon, and conspiracy theories, and political theater," Zimmerman told the Durango Herald in August. "It breeds so much hate and discontent. I don't think she cares to do anything else."
Zimmerman's chances in next year's June 28 primary could rise if calls to censure Boebert in response to this episode continue to grow.
In 2020, Rep. Randy Feenstra successfully primaried former GOP Rep. Steve King after the Iowa congressman was removed from his committee assignments by Republican leaders for questioning why "white nationalist" and "white supremacist" were considered controversial phrases.
Kinzinger, who is not running for re-election, was one of just two House Republicans who voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar and removed him from his committees last week. Gosar posted an anime video edited to show him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and brandishing swords at President Joe Biden.