Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has regularly touted her past success as a businesswoman in running Shooters, the restaurant that she co-owns with husband Jayson. She is fond of saying that her election to Congress to represent the a big swath of the state's western slope is the culmination of her "American dream."
But according to a new report in Mother Jones, her American dream has been a nightmare for many of the people who worked at her open-carry, MAGA-friendly diner.
Former Shooters employees say that the high school drop-out turned Congresswoman frequently failed to pay her employees on time.
"Multiple employees say that they were paid in cash, either out of the register or from Boebert’s husband’s wallet, without any taxes deducted," according to the report. "While many workers were struggling to make ends meet, they say Boebert spent exorbitant sums on breast implants, private schooling for her sons, and a new Cadillac Escalade. They describe her as alternately absent, showing up only when news crews were at the restaurant.
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"The second the restaurant blew up, her head blew up, and it became something entirely different,” one former waitress says. “And I got to meet a new version of her that is a monster.”
Despite her professions about being all for gun safety, one worker says that the congressional representative once pointed a loaded gun at him after he told her that he would have voted for a third term for former President Barack Obama.
"She thought it was hilarious," the employee said.
Josh Boyington, a former cook at Shooters, says that when Boebert began aggressively promoting the MAGA agenda, "we lost a lot of our customers." He says that her focus turned to social media popularity. "She was running that business into the ground with all her speeches on Facebook Live."
Mother Jones reports that employees believe that Boebert’s husband, who works as a consultant in the oil and gas industry, was keeping the company afloat.
"There were times when we were waiting for him to get his check, so that way she could get us our check," one former employee says. According to Boyington, "He’s the one who paid the rent, all the bills, everything.
"Shooters don’t make no money," according to Boyington, who left the restaurant in 2017. "I left because I don’t even think we were topping $500 a day."
According to Boebert’s congressional disclosures, Shooters lost $143,000 in 2019 and $226,000 in 2020.
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