The conservative congresswoman defended her anti-trans views and told Chappelle, “You’re a comedian, be a little tougher.”

Lauren Boebert calls out Dave Chappelle for saying she ‘weaponized’ his jokes about transgender people

The conservative congresswoman defended her anti-trans views and told Chappelle, "You're a comedian, be a little tougher."

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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April 16, 2026 6:10 p.m. ET

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Dave Chappelle; Lauren Boebert. Credit:

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- Conservative congresswoman Lauren Boebert has responded to Dave Chappelle after he claimed she "weaponized" his jokes about transgender people in a now-deleted social media post.

- "You're a comedian, be a little tougher," Boebert told TMZ on Thursday, saying that when she's criticized, she doesn't "wait for NPR to show up and have a counseling session."

- Chappelle told NPR on Wednesday that Boebert surprised him with the 2023 selfie request, and "politicized" it with an anti-trans message on social media.

Right-wing congresswoman Lauren Boebert is hitting back at Dave Chappelle after the comedian accused her of having "weaponized" his jokes about transgender people for her political benefit.

Though Chappelle's recent material targeting the transgender community has been broadly criticized as transphobic, he claimed in a Wednesday interview with NPR that he "[resents] that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes." For essentially "doing a weaponized version of what I was doing."

Chappelle specifically called the congresswoman from Colorado out for a now-deleted social media post that he said "weaponized or politicized" this controversial material.

On Thursday, TMZ tracked Boebert down on Capitol Hill to ask her about Chappelle's comments, affording her the opportunity to double down on her own hostile strain of transphobia and take shots at the comedian.

Dave Chappelle in New York City in 2022.

Jason Mendez/Getty

"I don't think I used his joke, though. I mean, transgenderism is a joke," Boebert said, employing the term favored by opponents of trans rights to pejoratively refer to the movement for transgender dignity and equality. "There was no jab, I was just stating facts."

The "facts" Boebert referred to were located in the caption of the now-deleted post to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. On Nov. 23, 2023, Boebert posted a selfie with Chappelle and her fellow right-wing congressional representative Anna Paulina Luna with a caption that read, "Just three people who understand that there's only two genders."

When the reporter from TMZ suggested that Chappelle "didn't like being used as a prop," Boebert directly criticized his comments to NPR. "I mean, you're a comedian, be a little tougher... People say things about me all the time. I go in my comment section. Do you think I sit at home and cry about it, and just wait for NPR to show up and have a counseling session with them?"

* *has reached out to a representative for Chappelle for comment.

Dave Chappelle slams Republicans who 'weaponized' transgender jokes: 'That's not what I was doing'

Rep. Lauren Boebert kicked out of Denver 'Beetlejuice' performance

Regarding the 2023 Boebert selfie, Chappelle told NPR, "I was on Capitol Hill, and everybody ran up to take pictures with me from every congressional office. And I just take pictures with whoever asks. I didn't ask how they vote or what their voting record is. And everyone at first was, like, CBC people. And here comes Lauren Boebert."

The comedian explained that he had "already taken 40 pictures," but when Boebert asked for one more, "I just took the picture. And then she posted a picture, before I could even get from there to the show, and said something to the effect of, 'Just two people that know that it's just two genders.' She instantly weaponized it, or politicized it. So I got to the arena, and I lit her ass up for doing that. She should never do that with a person like me. But now she knows."

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Boebert has long peddled anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, falsely linking drag queens to pedophilia, and likening gender affirmative healthcare to "grooming."

Chappelle has also been criticized for his material targeting the trans community, even sparking protests against Netflix, which has had a partnership with the comedian since 2016.

You can watch Chappelle's full comments to NPR above.

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