Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is hardly what most people would call a student of history. (Speaking of, here’s some fun history for you: She was there when her not-yet-husband exposed himself to minors, and married him anyway!) Nevertheless, even by the abysmally low bar set every time she opens her mouth about anything that happened before her ignominious rise to national prominence (here’s another bit of fun history: Boebert initially gained local infamy in her Colorado community for hospitalizing multiple people with bloody diarrhea!), the first-term congresswoman’s recent appearance on Fox News managed to reach new and depressing depths, thanks in no small part to an animated, anthropomorphized lion.
Why Boebert was appearing on Fox News isn’t all that important. Ostensibly, she was there to complain about gas prices and Democrats and socialism, but for all intents and purposes she might as well have been talking about eggplant Parmesan and some TikTok video she saw once. The point is that during her scheduled appearance to bash President Biden, she managed to do ... well ... this:
You know! Prince John from, uh, Prince John!
Now, if I were feeling overly generous (I’m not) I would say that Boebert was making a not-so-sly comparison between the president of the United States and the largely maligned King John, who ruled England for years after his older brother, King Richard, died at the turn of the 13th century, and whose reign effectively ended with the signing of the Magna Carta. An important historical figure, to be sure!
What’s substantively more likely, however, is that Boebert was referring to John’s constructed legacy as the legendary foil to Robin Hood — and in particular, his characterization as a doofy lion in Disney’s 1973 animated Furry fest.
You know, Prince John from ... uh ... Prince John!!!
This, of course, raises the question: What other animated felines does Boebert think are pulling the levers of power in the Democratic Party? Are Shere Khan and Bagheera duking it out in the congressional cloakroom over how best to expand Medicare for all? Is Simba hakuna matata-ing his way down the White House colonnade? Are the Aristocats — all of them! — secretly plotting to form a powerful housecat caucus?
Of course, perhaps Boebert really does understand the historical nuances inherent in comparing Biden to the storied pre-coronation era of England’s last Angevin king. Or maybe — just maybe — she simply likes it when the cartoon lion says funny words on the screen.
