Congresswoman Lauren Boebert did not tweet, "If they charge President Trump for his crimes, they could charge any of us for our crimes"

Claim 

Last week in March, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict former U.S. President Donald Trump following which he appeared at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse on April 4 and was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. On the heels of these developments, Trump supporters have railed against the legal action, and a number of false narratives are circulating online regarding the charges and their potential consequences. In the days since the indictment was initially reported, an image has been repeatedly shared on Twitter, purportedly showing a screenshot of a tweet by Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. The alleged tweet reads: "If they charge President Trump for his crimes, they could charge any of us for our crimes. The rule of law means nothing to these people." This image has been shared widely on Twitter, with users frequently citing it as an admission of wrongdoing and proof of hypocrisy. One tweet, posted by a user that cites it as "one of the stupidest tweets I have ever read," has been retweeted by over 10,000 times and liked by more than 49,000 users. 

In Fact 

While many Twitter users appear to believe that this image shows a tweet posted by Lauren Boebert, it is a fake that was created as a parody. Under the text of the tweet, its author has termed it "parody by rub." A reverse image search revealed that the screenshot was first shared by the account @FaithRubPol.

The account @FaithRubPol appears to almost exclusively post parody content similar to Lauren Boebert tweet in question. The biography attached to the account reads, "Trying to understand this crazy world & get a few laughs. Most of our screenshots are parodies." Responding to a question underneath its post concerning Boebert, the owner of the account confirmed on March 31 that the image is not genuine and is "satire."

This is not the first time that satirical content likely created by the person behind @FaithRubPol has been mistaken as genuine. In February 2023, Reuters reported that the account was likely behind the circulation of a screenshot that falsely showed Boebert stating, "I’ve just been told that Joe Biden has allowed Big Tech to catalog nearly every street address in the nation. Now, with just the push of a button, anyone in China can get directions to your home. This is unforgivable."

Logically searched for tweets posted by Lauren Boebert. To date, Boebert has never tweeted anything that closely resembles the statement shown in this image. 

The Verdict 

This image does not show a tweet posted by Lauren Boebert. Despite many Twitter users mistakenly believing it to be genuine, Boebert has never posted a statement to this effect. The image in question was created as a parody, as confirmed by its likely author. This claim has therefore been marked false.