Sinead Butler
Mar 16, 2022
Twitter/laurenboebert
Lauren Boebert has been duly roasted online after making a blunder by accidentally making up a military rank.
The Republican congresswoman made headlines after she rudely heckled Joe Biden during his State of the Union speech as he spoke of his dead son, shouting “Thirteen of them!” in reference to the 13 soldiers killed in Afghanistan last year.
In a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday (March 15), Boebert recalled how she recevied messages from some of the parents of the fallen soldiers to thank her for interrupting the speech after her heckling became news.
"After I spoke up, a few of the parents of our fallen soldiers reached out to me, and one of the moms encouraged me to share her thoughts with you,” Boebert said, and read one of the messages aloud. 'Hello Mrs Boebert. I am Shana Chappell, the mother of Lieutenant Corporal Kareem Nikoui…'"
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The 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kareem M Nikoui was killed in the suicide bombing along with 12 other soldiers at Hamid Karzai International Airport, assisting Afghans attempting to escape Taliban rule, The Independentreported.
But Boebert managed to make a gaffe in the form of mentioning a non-existent military title "lieutenant corporal."
After I spoke up for our 13 fallen military heroes at the State of the Union address a few of their parents reached out to thank me for recognizing them.\n\nOne of the parents encouraged me to share her message. Here it is.pic.twitter.com/Eu0IKn2FG0— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1647362610
Later on, Boebert corrected her mistake, and tweeted that she had meant to say "Lance Corporal."
My apologies, the proper military rank is Lance Corporal.— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1647381583
But before realising her error, Twitter was on hand to duly point out the faux pas to the congresswoman.
Sporting a new look, Boebert recounts the incident where she yelled out during SOTU. She talks about Pelosi telling her to shut up, then says the mom of a \u201clieutenant corporal\u201d (there\u2019s no such thing) wrote her to thank her.pic.twitter.com/0WFuy1PLI8— Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Ron Filipkowski \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1647363549
The U.S. military doesn\u2019t have a rank of \u201clieutenant corporal\u201d so what was the nationality of the mother who thanked her?https://twitter.com/ronfilipkowski/status/1503777835655254028\u00a0\u2026— Alexander S. Vindman (@Alexander S. Vindman) 1647365238
fun fact: Lauren Boebert is a Lieutenant Corporal in the Congressional Moron Caucus— Jeff Tiedrich (@Jeff Tiedrich) 1647372644
Hey @laurenboebert, Army veteran here. There\u2019s no such thing as a \u201clieutenant corporal.\u201d— David Weissman (@David Weissman) 1647369445
Even Dictionary.com helpfully - and sassily - gave a tongue-in-cheek response with a link to their website on the definitions of military ranks.
Are you perhaps a member of Congress, but don't know the difference between a lieutenant and a corporal? Here you go.https://www.dictionary.com/e/corporal-general-private-order-meaning/\u00a0\u2026— Dictionary.com (@Dictionary.com) 1647372666
The US Military doesn\u2019t have a rank of lieutenant corporal but Lauren Boebert is a major asshole.— Tony Posnanski (@Tony Posnanski) 1647371093
This new Saving Lieutenant Corporal Crunch movie looks like it could be the blockbuster hit of the summer.\n\n#SavingLieutenantCorporalCrunch @laurenboebertpic.twitter.com/aVt4XmhWhf— Paul Lee Teeks (@Paul Lee Teeks) 1647375214
In fairness, the Gazpacho Police does have lieutenant corporalshttps://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1503777835655254028\u00a0\u2026— Seth Abramson (@Seth Abramson) 1647372186
Leave Lauren Boebert alone. A lieutenant corporal is a rank in the gazpacho police.— Brent Terhune in Des Moines April 1&2 (@Brent Terhune in Des Moines April 1&2) 1647375401
This mistake echoes similarities to Boebert's Republican colleague Marjorie Taylor Green who also made an embarrassing blunder earlier this year when she confused Gestapo (the Nazi secret police) with gazpacho (a chilled tomato soup).
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