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Deadly anti-vaccine conspiracy theories continue to circulate within far-right echo chambers, convincing Americans the vaccines are tools of government control, that they're ineffective, or downright dangerous.
Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado—who is no stranger to believing or promoting conspiracy theories—advanced these deadly lies with a bizarre tweet on Monday.
The Congresswoman joked that she'd taken some Tylenol, but needed more people to take it so it would work.
I woke up with a headache this morning. I took some Tylenol. Now if everyone else could take some Tylenol too so mine would start working, that would be great.pic.twitter.com/LaaNHhaokn— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1632750852
Boebert was arguing that if individuals are vaccinated, they shouldn't be preoccupied with whether or not others are getting vaccinated.
While the vaccines against the virus that's killed over 650 thousand Americans have repeatedly proven to be safe and effective, it's vital for an overwhelming global majority to get vaccinated in order to achieve community or "herd" immunity. If this isn't achieved, the virus still has the velocity to mutate as it spreads, forming more contagious, vaccine-resistant variants like the Delta Variant that's wreaked havoc across the nation in recent months.
People were quick to call Boebert out for the bizarre tweet.
Perfect example of how the radical GQP views vaccines - ignoring the relationship between effectiveness and population, with zero care at all for anyone other than herself.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Eric Swalwell (@Eric Swalwell) 1632763221
how is she this stupidhttps://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Patton Oswalt (@Patton Oswalt) 1632770681
This is what happens when you elect not-so-bright folks to office. Also, IM EACH BIDEN!https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Wajahat Ali (@Wajahat Ali) 1632773568
What's worse? How incredibly ignorant and uninformed the new breed of #MAGA GOP members of Congress are, or that they so proudly and obliviously flaunt their ignorance for all to see while thinking they're making a clever point? #idiocracyhttps://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Mehdi Hasan (@Mehdi Hasan) 1632756660
this tweet is so painfully stupid and lacking any sort of context it took me about 10 seconds to realize what she's talking abouthttps://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— P\u00e9 (@P\u00e9) 1632769030
The Dunning-Kruger effect needs to be renamed the Boebert-Taylor effect: "When you're too dumb to understand just how dumb you are."https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Frank Lesser (@Frank Lesser) 1632769724
To be fair, she also has infected me with a headache reading this.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Nick Ross (@Nick Ross) 1632774174
Others expanded the metaphor.
My son got a headache three days ago. Now I have a headache.\n\nBut before I take any Tylenol, I\u2019m going to do my own research. Then I\u2019m going to talk to my cousin\u2019s friend.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1632772495
Perhaps Boebert drank last night. Maybe she drove home. Now if everyone else didn\u2019t drink and drive so she got home safely, that would be great.https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Dr. Richard Pan \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Dr. Richard Pan \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1632774479
Why do you need Tylenol when you can just ask Jesus to make your headache disappear?https://twitter.com/laurenboebert/status/1442487744069083136\u00a0\u2026— Mark Banker (@Mark Banker) 1632758219
The widely panned tweet comes just after Boebert admitted in a Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filing that she'd used campaign funds for personal expenses like rent and utilities.