Donald Trump Jr., Lauren Boebert rail against Bidens, FBI and Trump indictments in Pueblo
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As soon as Donald Trump Jr. walked into the Pueblo Bank and Trust pavilion at the Colorado State Fairgrounds Saturday evening, dozens of people started chanting “Trump!” and lined up to snap a photo with him.
Trump Jr. and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert were the keynote speakers at Freedom Fest, a fundraising event hosted by the Pueblo County Republican Party. Tickets were $75.
Also featured at the event were conservative documentarian Deborah Flora and local state representatives Ty Winter and Stephanie Luck. Country music star Cody Cozz performed an acoustic set to end the evening.
Donald Trump Jr. fills in after original keynote speaker bows out
Boebert thanked Trump Jr. during her speech for coming to the event on short notice.
“At a moment's notice, Donald Trump Jr. got the call that said, 'Pueblo wants you,'” Boebert said. “And without hesitation, he said, 'I'll be there.'”
Michelle Grey, chair of the Pueblo County Republican Party, confirmed that a keynote speaker canceled shortly before the event but declined to share any details.
Boebert talks 2024 election, 'the most contested race in America'
Boebert told the crowd they should get involved in the 2024 race, which is “the most contested race in America” in the House of Representatives. She said she is the “number one target” of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
“You, Pueblo, have a part in history. You have a part in securing this seat and your representation, and making sure the Democrats don't buy it,” she said.
The second-term U.S. representative narrowly won reelection in November 2022 by 546 votes after the Democratic candidate, Adam Frisch, performed better than most people expected.
“This is the most contested race in America, for the House,” Boebert told the crowd.
Boebert lives in Silt and was first elected to Congress in 2020. She represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Pueblo and some neighboring counties as well as most of the Western Slope.
She told reporters Saturday before her speech she thinks she spends more time in Pueblo than any other part of her district and said Pueblo’s values align with what’s important to her.
“No matter if you're Republican or Democrat, there is a pride for American values here in Pueblo County that no one can counter,” Boebert said during her speech.
Trump Jr., Boebert rail against Hunter Biden, news media and the FBI
Boebert said she will “expose” longtime corruption with the Bidens in her position on the House Oversight Committee.
“Corruption has been going on for years and the FBI has known it,” she said.
Boebert also mentioned a resolution she introduced bringing articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden in an attempt to force Republicans to take a side. The House voted along party lines to refer the matter to committee in June.
Trump Jr. declined to speak with local media who covered the event, but said the press does not do enough digging into Hunter Biden. He implied other countries have dirt on Biden.
“If we had journalists — if we had media that were something other than regime propagandists, if they were something other than the marketing arm of the Democratic Party — you'd say, ‘Hey, Joe Biden, do you think you're making this decision because China has some other stuff on Hunter?'"
Trump Jr. criticized the Pentagon for sending billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine. He also said that hiring a drag queen to market for the U.S. Navy is hurting recruitment efforts.
Both Boebert and Trump Jr. mentioned gender-affirming care for transgender people, drawing boos from the audience when they spoke against “chemical castration.”
Boebert said she and her colleagues in the House are “working to defund every woke program in the federal government” in the appropriations bill, such as gender-affirming care and any funding for abortions, including in the military.
The things that they're trying to do to my father and trying to do to our family, that's the stuff that if it happened in third-world banana republics, we'd be calling for regime change."
Donald Trump Jr.
What Trump Jr. said about his dad’s criminal proceedings
Trump Jr.’s father, Donald Trump, is the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican primary for president. But he’s also facing indictments for allegedly retaining classified documents and making hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
"My father — they're trying to throw him away for 450 years,” Trump Jr. told the crowd in Pueblo. “That's long. Although, they did want to try me for treason, which is a crime punishable by death.”
“Guys, that's what's going on in our country. The things that they're trying to do to my father and trying to do to our family, that's the stuff that if it happened in third-world banana republics, we'd be calling for regime change,” he added.
Trump Jr.'s call to action: talk to Democrats
Trump Jr. told attendees that they should reach out and talk with their neighbors who are on the other side of the aisle — Democrats in Pueblo are different from Democrats in D.C., he said.
“In a place like this, where you have the history of great blue collar, Democratic voters, people who still believe in work and handouts, you can cross that line,” Trump Jr. said. “Because whether it's you or your kids, if you don't, one day, everything you believe in will be gone. And that's why we're fighting.”
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Donald Trump Jr., Lauren Boebert talk Bidens, FBI and indictments in Pueblo
