Lauren Boebert Unfazed by Trump's Primary Threat as Filing Deadline Passes

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) told The Independent she is not intimidated by President Donald Trump’s threats to endorse a primary challenge to her — because he’s too late.

Trump called for a primary challenge to the MAGA stalwart two months after the filing deadline for candidates in Colorado, which came on March 18, according to Colorado’s Secretary of State office.

“Well, I can’t be primaried,” she told The Independent on Capitol Hill Wednesday. “My primary is locked in, so I support the president, and we're moving forward.”

Trump attacked Boebert, one of his biggest supporters in Congress, as “weak-minded” after she campaigned for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Trump’s biggest critic in the House Republican conference.

“So, I stood by the president, I stand by my friend, and I got work to do,” she said.

Massie lost his primary for the Republican nomination to Ed Gallrein. The idiosyncratic Kentucky Republican gained national attention last year after he led the charge–with the help of Boebert–to force a vote to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

The legislation that forced the release files related to the late convicted sex offender passed with almost unanimous support in the House and through unanimous consent in the Senate.

Massie and Boebert did so with the help of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia (R-Ga.) and Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who signed the petition along with every Democrat to overcome opposition from House Republican leadership and the president.

Boebert said Gallrein only won because of support from Trump, rather than his own merits.

“I mean, yeah, you want to win, but I would say, congratulations to President Trump, this was his election to win,” Boebert said. “I don't think the voters know exactly who Ed Gallrein is. They were voting for President Trump in that election. I wholeheartedly believe that.”

Days before the primary, Trump sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to campaign with Gallrein. Hegseth did so despite concerns that an acting Defense secretary campaigning would be a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from participating in partisan political events.

It is not the first time Trump has crossed Boebert. Last year, Boebert passed legislation with unanimous support to secure clean drinking water in Colorado, only for Trump to veto the bill. When it came back to the House, Congress failed to override the veto.

Boebert is all but guaranteed to the last of the rogue Republicans who signed the discharge petition that allowed for the vote to release files related to Epstein.

Last year, Trump un-endorsed Greene, which led to her resignation earlier this year. In addition, Mace, a rape survivor, will leave Congress at the end of this year since she is running for governor.

But despite her outspoken support for Trump, the president endorsed Lt. Gov. Pam Evette to be the next governor of South Carolina.