Rep. Lauren Boebert Falsely Tweets How To Make Covid-19 Delta Variant ‘Go Away’

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) is neither a scientist nor a medical doctor. But apparently she tweeted how to make the Delta variant of the Covid-19 coronavirus just “go away.” Yes, you heard that correctly, go away.

Kyle Clark of NBC 9News captured that since-deleted tweet from Boebert with a tweet of his own:

Yep, looks like Boebert did tweet, tweeted, or twote, “The easiest way to make the Delta variant go away is to turn off CNN. And vote Republican.” It also looks like it was re-tweeted, quote tweeted, and liked quite a few times before she deleted it. Nevertheless, her tweet didn’t just “go away.” Clark as well as Politiwoops, a database run by ProPublica, was able to capture her tweet for posterity, as the fact-checking website Snopes indicated.

Is that it? Is that all you have to do to make the Delta variant, the more transmissible and contagious version of the virus that’s been spreading around the world and the U.S., “go away”?

This is the Delta variant that was first detected in India in October 2020. It’s the Delta variant that had spread to at least 62 countries by the beginning of June, at least 80 countries by mid-June, and at least 104 countries by July 4. Is the fact that you can’t “vote Republican” in most of these countries the reason why the Delta variant has spread so far? Is not turning off CNN the reason why the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the Delta variant a Variant of Concern on May 11, 2021?

Clearly, any suggestion that the Delta variant is simply a partisan problem or manufactured by CNN is absurd. It’s an international threat that has been verified by scientists and public health experts around the world. You can vote Democrat, Republican, Reform, Libertarian, Socialist, Natural Law, Constitution, Green, Objectivist, Tea Party, Boston Tea, United States Pirate Party, American Vegetarian, or Surprise, and the virus is probably not going to care. Heck you could vote for the Guns and Dope Party, the Inanimate Objects Party, or the Undecided Cow Party, and the Delta variant will keep spreading throughout the U.S. The only thing that will slow its spread is better Covid-19 control efforts. That’s getting more people vaccinated and encouraging face mask use and social distancing at least among those unvaccinated.

The deleted tweet certainly wasn’t the only time that Boebert has mixed politics and partisanship with the Covid-19 coronavirus and Covid-19 control efforts. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas this weekend, she gave the speech seen in the video accompanying this tweet:

Yep, that’s her saying, “We’re here to tell government … don’t come knocking on my door with your Fauci ouchie.” By the way, the “Fauci ouchie” is not Anthony Fauci, MD, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) stubbing his toe. It is a nickname for the Covid-19 vaccine, as I have covered previously for Forbes.

Using a whimsical term like “Fauci ouchie” may work when asking someone on a dating site if he or she has gotten vaccinated or if you accidentally head butted Fauci. But what does such a term imply in the context that Boebert used it? Well, Don Winslow, a crime and mystery novel author, put together a video that mixed clips of Boebert saying “Fauci ouchie” with some real scenes from the pandemic:

Boebert has also used the word “bullying” when referring to video featuring Fauci encouraging people to get vaccinated. Fauci, by the way, has served as the NIAID Director under both Republic and Democrat Presidential administrations. And as Joshua Cohen described for Forbes, Boebert has used the term “Needle Nazis” to describe people deployed to increase vaccination rates. And she’s tweeted “Covid-19 mutated into Communism a long time ago”:

Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Isn’t that like saying toe fungus has become Fascist? Or bacteria has become Bolshevik? Again a virus is a virus. It doesn’t have political affiliation, except perhaps the “infect you whoever you happen to be” party.

Such politicization of Covid-19 has really hindered attempts to contain the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2). It’s suggested to some that the virus is not real or very serious, even though the virus has killed over 600,000 in the U.S. and over four million around the world. Such politicization has made scientifically-driven policies and interventions appear to be more like politically-driven policies and interventions. Such narratives have frustrated scientists, medical doctors, and public health officials who just want to combat this bleeping virus and prevent further deaths and suffering. Political leaders trying to politicize Covid-19 have been like the bumbling Gilligan hampering the Professor’s efforts to get off the island.

The Delta variant is not going to just “go away,” as Boebert suggested. The pandemic never really “turned the corner” in the U.S. in 2020, despite some politicians repeatedly insisting that it would. Unless, of course, “turned the corner” meant get worse and worse.