State Sen. Don Coram, one of the Colorado Republicans challenging U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in a primary, condemned Boebert Thursday following a report that the freshman lawmaker asked a group of Jewish visitors to the U.S. Capitol whether they were there to conduct “reconnaissance.”

According to Buzzfeed News, Boebert looked over the group from “head to toe,” one witness said, after emerging from an elevator before delivering her remarks.

The group, at the Capitol to meet with U.S. Rep. Thomas Suozzi, a New York Democrat, were wearing and were led by an Orthodox Jew with a traditional beard, Buzzfeed reported.

“You know, I’m not sure to be offended or not,” one of the rabbis who encountered Boebert told the outlet. “I was very confused.” He added that “people are very sensitive” after a gunman took hostages, including a rabbi, at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, last weekend.

Boebert told Buzzfeed she had made the remark in jest, referencing allegations made last year by Democrats who accused her of leading “reconnaissance” tours of the U.S. Capitol prior to the Jan. 6 attack on the building by Trump supporters. Boebert has roundly rejected the suggestion.

“I saw a large group and made a joke. Sadly when Democrats see the same they demonize my family for a year straight,” she said.

Added Boebert: “I’m too short to see anyone’s yarmulkes.”

Coram, the Montrose Republican who launched a bid earlier this month to represent the Western Slope-based 3rd District, tore into the incumbent in a text message.

“If Lauren Boebert would spend more time in Colorado with the people of the 3rd Congressional District instead of jetting around the country like an out-of-touch celebrity, maybe she would understand why this is not only disgusting but unacceptable. Especially after the recent events in Texas,” he said.

Referencing a furor sparked late last year after a video clip surfaced of Boebert making anti-Muslim remarks about U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, Coram continued: “One might think Lauren would have learned from her most recent encounter involving an elevator, obviously not (maybe she should take the stairs). Instead, she continues to act more like Marjorie Taylor Greene each day by spewing garbage like this. We deserve better.”

Greene, a outspoken conservative Republican lawmaker from Georgia, was stripped of her committee assignments by House Democrats last year over incendiary comments appearing to support violence against Democrats.

Suozzi told Buzzfeed on Thursday that he was concerned that Boebert could have spoken recklessly.

“The bottom line is that everyone, especially members of Congress, have to be very, very thoughtful in the language they use,” Suozzi said. “Because when you’re a member of Congress, you have an important role to play in society. You can’t be cavalier in the comments you make, especially if they could be perceived as being antisemitic, or discriminatory.”

Boebert’s other primary challenger, Archuleta County Republican Marina Zimmerman, made a similar point more emphatically.

“Hasn’t even been a week since the Colleyville standoff, not even three weeks into 2022, and on her very first day elected as the ‘House Freedom Caucus Communications Chair’, my opponent @laurenboebert officially cast her own nomination as the most anti-semitic member of Congress,” Zimmerman tweeted.

The House Freedom Caucus announced earlier Thursday that Boebert had been named its communications chair.

Calling the caucus “the most influential group on Capitol Hill,” Boebert said in a statement: “These members fight every day to preserve the rights and liberties of hard-working Americans. I am honored to be selected as the communications chair for the caucus, and I’ll work diligently to make sure the caucus’s message, and the powerful messages of each member, are delivered to the American people.”

Boebert’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

Colorado Republican Party chair Kristi Burton Brown, who worked as Boebert’s policy advisor on her 2020 congressional campaign, called attention to Boebert’s new position late Thursday on Twitter.

“Congrats to Colorado’s own Congresswoman @laurenboebert on being elected as the Communications Chair of the House Freedom Caucus!” Burton Brown said. “Let freedom ring!”