Anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) plans to make some extra cash through Cameo seem to have been foiled.
The congresswoman has deleted her account just days after joining after many questioned the ethics of her participation on the app – which allows fans to request short, personalized videos from celebrity members – while currently serving in Congress.
On Saturday, Boebert joined former House colleagues Matt Gaetz and George Santos on Cameo, where she began charging $250 a pop for personalized video messages.
But immediately, people began questioning if she was running afoul of House ethics rules.
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“Hey, Cameo, it’s your girl from Colorado, Lauren Boebert,” she said in a welcome video. “I am so excited to be joining another platform where I can connect directly with supporters from all over the world.”
“Whether you or someone you know needs an America First pep talk, if you want to surprise friends or family with a message for a special day, or if you just want to know my thoughts on whatever’s on your mind, Cameo is the place to connect with me.”
While both Gaetz and Santos joined Cameo after they left Congress, Boebert won her race for Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District earlier this month. As a sitting member of Congress, she was wading into some murky ethical territory. Semafor reporter Kadia Goba pointed out on X that U.S. House Representatives and senior staff are limited to making $31,815 in income outside of their Congressional salary.
NOTUS reporter Reese Gorman, meanwhile, noted that House members are explicitly prohibited from receiving honoraria, defined in House ethics rules as “a payment of money or thing of value for an appearance, speech, or article.” Gorman also pointed out that if Boebert’s Cameo earnings were going toward her campaign account, that would not violate House ethics rules. However, Cameo explicitly bans users from using the site “to promote or solicit contributions on behalf of [their] candidacy for public office, the candidacy of another person seeking public office, any political party or committee, or any other person or organization promoting or soliciting contributions on behalf of any candidate for public office or political party.”
Boebert appears to have deleted her account Monday night.
Ethical concerns aside, Boebert’s presence on Cameo also invited another serious question. According to her profile, in addition to birthday, anniversary, and other custom messages, users could request videos of Boebert sharing “words of wisdom.” It’s hard to imagine who might have turned to the scandal-prone Congresswoman for “wisdom.” She has been engaged in a long-running feud with fellow anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), has lobbed homophobic insults to attack Transporation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and according to a 2022 HRC report, her Twitter account was the third biggest source of anti-transgender misinformation on the social media platform (now known as X).
Boebert’s personal life has been as chaotic as her presence in the House. A gun-themed restaurant that she ran with ex-husband Jayson Boebert in Rifle, Colorado, reportedly lost hundreds of thousands of dollars and served tainted pork sliders at a 2017 rodeo, resulting in 80 people getting food poisoning. They were then evicted in 2022.
In 2020, The Denver Post reported on the then-Congressional candidate’s history of arrests for petty crimes between 2010 and 2015. And last year, Boebert was famously kicked out of a performance of the musical Beetlejuice for vaping and groping her date in the theater.
Earlier this year, her son, Tyler Boebert, was arrested and charged with five felony counts and several misdemeanors, after he and several other teenagers went on an alleged crime spree that involved breaking into parked cars and stealing credit cards and wallets.
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