Former staff at the Colorado restaurant run by Republican Lauren Boebert have called her a “monster” and claimed that she once pointed a gun at an Obama supporter, according to a report.
The GOP congresswoman owns Shooters on Main Street in Rifle, Colorado, along with her husband and she has promoted her business experience repeatedly during her political career.
But progressive magazine Mother Jones has reported that several restaurant employees claim they had a less than stellar experience working at the diner, alleging that Ms Boebert at times failed to pay her employees in a timely manner.
Several workers said that they were paid in cash out of the register or from the wallet of Ms Boebert’s husband, with no taxes being deducted, according to the magazine.
Many workers struggled with their personal finances as Ms Boebert allegedly spent large sums of money on breast implants, private schooling for her children, and a new Cadillac Escalade, Mother Jones reported.
And some staffers said she only appeared at the restaurant when news crews were there.
“The second the restaurant blew up, her head blew up, and it became something entirely different,” a former waitress told the outlet. “And I got to meet a new version of her that is a monster.”
One employee said she aimed a loaded gun at him when he said he would have voted for former President Barack Obama to stay on for a third term.
“She would tell it like a joke ... She thought it was hilarious,” the staffer told the magazine.
After Donald Trump entered the White House, workers say Ms Boebert began connecting her politics with the restaurant.
She attended a 2019 event for the 2020 Beto O’Rourke presidential campaign in Aurora, Colorado. Responding to the suggestion that assault rifles be taken away, she responded, “hell no, you’re not”.
“When she went to confront Beto O’Rourke, that’s when she started selling T-shirts and stuff,” one waitress told the magazine. “We lost a lot of our customers.”
Former Shooters cook Josh Boyington said that she started to focus more on becoming popular on social media.
“She was running that business into the ground with all her speeches on Facebook Live,” he said.
Workers said they thought that Ms Boebert’s husband, an oil and gas consultant, was keeping the business alive.
“There were times when we were waiting for him to get his check, so that way she could get us our check,” one ex-employee said.
“He’s the one who paid the rent, all the bills, everything,” Mr Boyingyton said, adding that he left the restaurant in 2017.
“Shooters don’t make no money,” he said. “I left because I don’t even think we were topping $500 a day.”
Mother Jones noted that Ms Boebert’s congressional disclosures state that Shooters lost $143,000 in 2019 and $226,000 in 2020.
The magazine also reported that Ms Boebert often hired former inmates and was at times generous with her money, such as when she bought a $3,000 car for a former member of staff.
Employee Mac Mcglaughn said she bailed him out of jail, paid for him to stay in a hotel room, and paid him from the restaurant’s cash register.
“There wasn’t anything really set as far as structure as far as pay, but I greatly appreciate what she’s done for me,” he said.
The Independent has reached out to the office of Ms Boebert for comment.
