Lauren Boebert wears ‘Drill Baby Drill’ shawl as fellow Republicans back Ukraine in blue and yellow

Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert has arrived at the State of the Union draped in a shawl emblazoned with “Drill Baby Drill”.

The congresswoman made the statement in support of increased drilling for petroleum and gas ahead of President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address, upon her arrival at the US Capitol.

This is not the first time Boebert has used the 2008 Republican campaign slogan, as she previously tweeted: “When it comes to Energy, I support an all-of-the-above strategy where the government does not choose winners and losers. Drill baby, drill! Add new nuclear technology to the mix as a clean and efficient energy source.”

The slogan was first used in 2008 by Michael Steele at the Republican National Convention. The phrase was later popuarlised by former republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Ahead of the SOTU, Boebert expressed her support for increased drilling on Twitter, where she wrote: “MAKE AMERICA ENERGY INDEPENDENT AGAIN!”

In another tweet, the congresswoman said that what she wants to hear in President Biden’s speech is “how to solve the border crisis, how to produce more American energy, how to reduce inflation, and how to put America first” but that “what we will hear are more plans to waste trillions of tax dollars on climate change and other leftist priorities”.

Boebert’s choice to wear the slogan at the SOTU appears to be in response to demands for the US to boycott Russian oil and gas giants as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia is one of the largest exporters of oil in the world.