U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert put her support for former President Trump on full display Thursday morning, taking a front-row seat at his criminal hush money trial in a Lower Manhattan courtroom.
“They may have gagged President Trump. They didn’t gag me,” the Colorado congresswoman posted to the social platform X, where she shared a photo showing her with several other Republican legislators in the courtroom. “Why is that fraud Michael Cohen allowed on TikTok with a shirt of Trump behind bars but Trump can’t speak out?”
Cohen, Trump’s former attorney and a key witness in the trial, resumed testimony Thursday. He is part of prosecutors’ efforts to assert that Trump — during his 2016 run for the White House — falsified business records to cover up a payment he made to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence about an alleged affair Trump had with her nearly 20 years ago.
Trump has been ordered by the judge not to speak publicly about witnesses in the case, including Cohen. Cohen, by contrast, has been openly critical of his former boss leading up to the trial.
Boebert appeared at the courthouse Thursday morning with several fellow Republican House members, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good of Virginia and Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz of Florida, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona.
The Associated Press reported that Boebert, Gaetz, Waltz and Good were spotted sitting in the first row of the gallery, next to Eric Trump, the former president’s son. The Hill reported that as the jury entered the courtroom Thursday morning, Boebert “slowly turned her body to continue facing them as they walked across the room to the jury box.”
“I’m in New York City for court with President Trump today. We are 100% behind him!” Boebert wrote on X before the trial resumed.
Thursday’s contingent of Republican lawmakers were the latest GOP politicos to attend Trump’s trial this week in a show of support for the presumed Republican presidential nominee, who is attempting to gain a second term in the White House. It would be the first instance of an American president serving split terms since Grover Cleveland did it in the late 1800s.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made an appearance at the Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday, as did U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Additional Republican members of Congress made appearances at the proceedings on Monday, as Cohen first took the stand.
Trump endorsed Boebert in March in her race to capture Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, calling her a “trusted America First Fighter.” Boebert turned the endorsement into a campaign ad shortly thereafter.
Boebert moved to the 4th District earlier this year to run for the eastern Colorado seat eventually abandoned by former Rep. Ken Buck. She still represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which is mostly based on the Western Slope, until her term ends in January.
Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.
:focal(1443x405:1445x403)/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2024/11/26/4066095-82459548-2560-1440.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1)
