Amid a partial DHS shutdown blamed on Senate Democrats, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) posted a viral video claiming President Trump’s deployment of ICE agents to airports had dramatically cut TSA wait times in Minneapolis to under five minutes, while other airports faced long delays.
However, cynical fact-checkers appeared out of the woodwork. Reason reporter Billy Binion called out the alleged inaccuracy, sparking a snarky online exchange in which Boebert dismissed him with “It’s not your fault. Our schools failed you.”
In any case, the post that began this social media slap fight began when the Colorado Republican stated, “You can’t make this stuff up!! ICE agents show up at airports, and suddenly, TSA wait times in Minneapolis drop to less than five minutes! Called it!! 😂😂😂”
She added, “So President Trump sends ICE agents to the airports across the country, and while the rest of our country has three-plus-hour waits. Thanks, Democrats! At the Minneapolis airports, TSA wait time right now is less than five minutes. Called it.”
Clearly triggered, Reason magazine reporter Billy Binion whined, “’You can’t make this stuff up!!’ is a funny way to start this because Lauren Boebert did, in fact, make this stuff up. ICE agents are not at the Minneapolis airport, where TSA lines have been consistently quick. We are living in an episode of Veep.”
“I never said they were? Keep trying, tho,” Boebert fired back. The liberal retorted, “‘ICE agents show up at airports, and suddenly TSA wait times in Minneapolis drop to less than five minutes!’ Once again: ICE agents aren’t in Minneapolis, where wait times were always brief. They didn’t drop. Read your own post back to yourself slowly.” Shutting down the irritating journalist, Boebert responded, “It’s not your fault. Our schools failed you.”
As we reported at the American Tribune, during a March 25, 2026, House Homeland Security hearing on the partial DHS shutdown, Chairman Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) blamed Senate Democrats and Chuck Schumer for the dangerous situation,
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“Maybe TSA should shut down Dulles and DCA so the Democrat senators can’t get out of here when they try to leave this week. And you should keep them here until they actually pass some funding,” he said in a viral moment.
Garbarino added, “Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats shut down the Department of Homeland Security 40 days ago. Their actions are reckless, dangerous, and unacceptable…It is unfortunate that Senate Democrats chose to shut down DHS and weaken our national security posture for their own political gain…”
The New York Republican added, “But the fact is that DHS is still shut down today, and we should never have been in this position in the first place. To withhold funding from the Department is not only flawed but immensely dangerous.”
Concluding his comments, he noted, “As a lifelong New Yorker and the representative of a community forever marked by the September 11th terrorist attacks, the mission of the Department is deeply personal for me. Twenty-five years later, its purpose is essential as ever.”