GOP Rep Uses Prop to Call Attention to Border Crisis During Biden's Speech
Rep. Lauren Boebert used a thermal space blanket similar to those given to migrants being held at detention centers to draw attention to the border crisis during President Joe Biden’s speech to Congress on Wednesday night.
While seated in the House chamber for Biden’s joint address, she unfurled the blanket, which caused a lot of noise because of the synthetic material it is made of.
“For those who complained about the sound of my Mylar blanket, imagine what this room sounds like,” the Colorado Republican tweeted, sharing a photo of migrant children at a detention facility. Fix it Joe!”
“Biden refused to bring attention to the crisis he created at the southern border. So I did,” she said in a follow-up tweet.
Biden refused to bring attention to the crisis he created at the southern border.
So I did.
— Rep. Lauren Boebert (@RepBoebert) April 29, 2021
Videos and photos of migrant children crowded into detention facilities with similar blankets have been widely shared by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and others in recent weeks.
These are the Biden cages. (Faces blurred.) Thousands of kids, in the midst of a pandemic, crammed in at 1500% capacity.
This is just one of the “pods” at Donna. There are SEVEN more, equally full. pic.twitter.com/zyMm5yiIPZ
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 27, 2021
?? Border Patrol told us the COVID rate at the Donna migrant facility is 10%.
How can Joe Biden look at these new photos and STILL refuse to call this a crisis?
He’s in complete denial.
It’s a humanitarian crisis.
It’s a public health crisis.
It’s a security crisis. pic.twitter.com/0OP0CsU9fG— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) April 13, 2021
This is the humanitarian crisis @POTUS created. Migrant children smuggled by cartels on top of each other in the Donna TX facility yesterday while our northern border is shut down for non-essential travel & kids across America can’t attend school. Follow the science & hypocrisy! pic.twitter.com/CCLbkjoVOm
— Nicole Malliotakis (@NMalliotakis) April 10, 2021
In spite of that, the meaning behind Boebert’s blanket seemed to be lost on some members of the media.
“@laurenboebert opened a Mylar blanket on the floor, crinkling and making noise as it opened,” NBC News reporter Kasie Hunt tweeted.
“It was warmer than usual in the chamber when this speech started, but they have definitely cranked the AC since.”
The Daily Beast reporter Matt Fuller said the congresswoman “shook it free so that everyone could hear it in the chamber.”
“She’s just sort of casually sitting there with the blanket — one of those shiny silvery things,” he tweeted.
“If it’s some form of protest, it hasn’t really had any effect in the chamber.”
She’s just sort of casually sitting there with the blanket—one of those shiny silvery things. A thermal blanket, I believe is another name for it.
If it’s some form of protest, it hasn’t really had any effect in the chamber.
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) April 29, 2021
Boebert tweeted about 30 times during Biden’s speech, giving her reactions to the address and highlighting the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Biden is responsible for violating basic human rights. #BorderCrisis,” she tweeted.
The congresswoman added, “Will President Bien talk about the cartels that are destroying America? And I’m not talking about the radical left in attendance tonight.”
Instead of addressing the crisis at the border, Biden called for Congress to pass his bill putting illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.
“If you believe we need to secure the border, pass it, because it has a lot of money for high-tech border security. If you believe in a pathway to citizenship, pass it so over 11 million undocumented folks — the vast majority are here overstaying visas,” he said. (That claim was false, according to FactCheck.org.)
“We can actually — if you want to solve a problem, I’ve sent a bill to take a close look at it,” Biden said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
