The days of decorum are over. And it’s every man for himself.
Now Lauren Boebert cussed out a reporter for a shocking reason.
Two Words. The Camera Was Rolling.
Lauren Boebert was in the middle of a perfectly coherent Fox News Digital interview about Trump’s endorsement strategy and the House Republican agenda when the reporter shifted subjects. The shift was: allegations from a woman who says she is Thomas Massie’s ex-girlfriend, who has claimed that Massie bragged to her about a s-xual encounter with Boebert in the weeks after his wife’s death.
Boebert’s response was not a denial, a statement, or a referral to legal counsel.
“F – – – you, first of all!” Boebert told the Fox News Digital reporter.
She followed up with characterizations that were at least as revealing as her opening: “If you’re gonna bring me into this, like, the s-xist stuff is like out of control. So there’s your clickbait that you were looking for.” She then declined to discuss the allegations further and walked away from the interview.
Whatever one makes of Cynthia West’s allegations — and West has her own entanglements, having been a staffer for Rep. Victoria Spartz and being the plaintiff in a wrongful termination suit that Massie allegedly tried to buy her out of for $5,000 — the response from one of the two named parties in the allegation was not a denial. It was an exit.
The Allegation — And What It’s Built On
West, a former congressional staffer who previously worked for Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind. — an ally of Massie — alleged that within weeks of Massie’s wife Rhonda’s death, Massie bragged to West about having had a s-xual encounter with Boebert. West also alleged that Massie offered her $5,000 to drop the wrongful termination suit she was pursuing against Spartz. Both allegations surfaced just a week before Massie lost his House seat in the May 19 Republican primary to Trump-backed Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein.
Massie has not yet commented directly and publicly on West’s allegation about Boebert. West’s credibility is complicated by the legal context surrounding her — the wrongful termination lawsuit, her relationship with Spartz and Massie, and the timing of the allegations surfacing days before a primary that ended Massie’s career. Those complications are relevant and deserve to be noted.
What also deserves to be noted: the timing of any such relationship, if it occurred, would be in the weeks after Rhonda Massie’s death. That context, more than the political relationship between Massie and Boebert, is what gives the allegation its particular sting.
A Post-Massie World — And Some Open Questions
Before the interview turned combative, Boebert was candid and even gracious about Massie’s political end. “Obviously Thomas Massie is the only one that I’m a little sad about,” she said. She expressed uncertainty about Massie’s next move after his filing for re-election to an unspecified position, saying “I don’t know if he’s going to move forward with that or not.” She added: “Hopefully he leaves here and makes some money.”
The contrast between that warm farewell and her reaction to being asked about West’s allegation is notable. Boebert and Massie’s political friendship, which cost her Trump’s explicit endorsement when she campaigned for him before his primary loss, was clearly genuine. That’s not at issue. What is at issue is an allegation from a named woman, made on the record, that implicates both of them — and for which neither has offered a direct response. “I don’t want to talk about anybody’s exes and their crazy s– – – that they do” is not that response.
Massie has now filed for re-election with the FEC without specifying which office he intends to seek. Boebert has returned to Colorado. The Fox News Digital reporter has, presumably, recovered his composure.
