Joe Biden burst out laughing after being shown a video of Maga Republican Lauren Boebert slamming the Inflation Reduction Act as a “massive failure”.
The president was shown a clip of Ms Boebert in the House of Representatives in which she ranted about the act as a “con game” by the Democrats. The GOP lawmaker refused to stop talking even after her allotted time on the floor was up.
The video was shown to him by Ben Meiselas of the anti-Trump group Meidas Touch.
“If it weren’t so important, it would be humorous,” Mr Biden said after watching being shown the video, during which he chuckled and smiled. “The only ‘massive failure’ occurs in her thinking.”
The president pointed out that the Inflation Reduction Act helped expand a wind turbine facility, leading to 850 new jobs in Ms Boebert’s own district of Pueblo, Colorado.
“We cut the deficit by $7bn. The idea that she’s talking about this being a massive failure, I don’t get it. I don’t know whether they just don’t understand anything or…” he said.
Maga Republican Lauren Boebert— (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Mr Biden added “I hope [Ms Boebert] goes back here and tells the people in this factory, the largest wind turbine factory in the world, that it’s a massive failure.
“It’s her district, invite her to come back, come back and tell the folks back home that this is a massive failure. Tell the folks back home that all that we’ve done to generate economic growth is not worth it.”
Ms Boebert made headlines in September following a bizarre incident at a regional production of the Broadway musical Beetlejuice, in which she was thrown out of the theatre for allegedly vaping, singing and taking flash photos during the performance.
She was later forced to make a public apology after CCTV footage emerged which showed her appearing to engage in heavy petting with her male companion.
A statement released by Ms Boebert said: “The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I’m truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community.
“While none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that.
“There’s no perfect blueprint for going through a public and difficult divorce, which over the past few months has made for a challenging personal time for me and my entire family.
“I’ve tried to handle it with strength and grace as best I can, but I simply fell short of my values on Sunday. That’s unacceptable and I’m sorry.”
