Rep. Lauren Boebert fell back on a much-used right-wing cliche when she prayed in a Texas church for the death of President Joe Biden using a quote from the bible.
“We pray for our presidents,” the Republican from Colorado told the congregation in the sermon which can be seen in a clip uploaded on Saturday to Storehouse Dallas Church’s Facebook page. “You know, it says, ‘Let his days be few and another take his office,” she added, referencing Psalms 109:8, which the New Oxford Annotated Bible titles “Prayer for deliverance from enemies.”
You can watch it below:
In her Feb. 4 speech, Boebert continued, “That’s why I filed the articles of impeachment for Joe Biden. Unfortunately, he does have a really great insurance policy named Kamala Harris.”
This specific verse is a popular go-to for right-wing influencers and politicians, giving them the means to troll liberals by calling for the death of a politician they hate while hiding behind “faith.” Boebert herself has made this same comment more than once. When she quoted that same portion of Psalm 109 in June 2022, she was met with laughter.
Boebert isn’t the first or only Republican to do this. Psalms 109:8 was particularly popular during the presidency of Barack Obama. It became something of a slogan among conservatives in 2009, and in 2016, even a sitting U.S. Senator, Alabama Republican David Perdue, got in on the act. Perdue later claimed this was just “a little humor.”
For context, the full verse reads: “May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.”
PatriotTakes shared the clip to Twitter, where it was quickly denounced.
“A church congregation cheered as Lauren Boebert appeared to wish for President Biden’s death: ‘May his days be few and another take his office!’” progressive YouTube commentator Brian Tyler Cohen responded.
Arkansas senatorial candidate Dan Whitfield weighed in: “Preaching at church for someone to die.. that’s new.”
An Episcopal priest also spoke up, saying, “Sadly, @laurenboebert takes Psalm 109 horribly out of context. This “song of David” speaks of the rigorous prerequisites for imprecation. In short, none of us is worthy to pray for divine wrath. Only the innocent can pray as David does. Others risk dishonoring God’s character.”
Another person simply wrote, “That’s evil. When is this going to end?”
