March 03, 2023 12:34 PM UTC

So Much For Keeping George Santos At Arm's Length

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• by: Colorado Pols

Bruce Lee of Forbes reports on a new piece of going-nowhere performative legislation introduced by the Republican majority in the U.S. House, cosponsored by Colorado’s most sophomoric sophomore Rep. Lauren Boebert along with a special new friend:

With 647 mass shootings in 2022 and 85 already this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, guess what Rep. Barry Moore (R-Alabama) wants to do now? Well, on February 17, 2023, Moore introduced a bill, H.R.1095, that would declare the AR-15 style rifle the “National Gun of the United States.” Yep, three days after Valentine’s Day, he introduced this Bill that will be first discussed by the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. And the bill has a trio of co-sponsors: Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), Rep. George Santos (R-New York), and Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Georgia).

Since the introduction of the bill on February 17th, Boebert’s budding archrival Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has also signed on as a cosponsor, but that’s it: three far-right deep south Republicans in overwhelmingly Republican safe districts, committee-less serial prevaricator freshman Rep. George Santos, and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

The description of the Bill on the Congressional website currently does not have much more (or Moore) clarification beyond its stated title: “To declare an AR-15 style rifle chambered in a .223 Remington round or a 5.56x45mm NATO round to be the National Gun of the United States.” So it does not elaborate why Moore, Boebert, Santos, and Clyde specifically feel that such legislation is needed at this point or why taxpayer money should be spent deliberating such a legislation.

We can’t say there’s anything surprising about Boebert signing on to a “message bill” with no purpose other than to express her undying love for the AR-15 rifle, which also happens to be the most commonly used weapon in high-casualty mass shootings that have dominated the headlines in recent years. Par for Boebert’s course. But of the handful of cosponsors signed on to this bill, Boebert by far is taking the biggest risk in allying with George Santos for any public-facing purpose. This has been true for years with respect to Boebert’s close relationship with Rep. Matt “Giggity” Gaetz, but to countenance Santos’ free-ranging pathological fabulism is even worse. Boebert’s proven vulnerability should inspire much more caution about who she associates with than any of these other representatives.

Teaming up with Santos is just further evidence that Boebert has learned nothing from nearly losing her seat.