A Republican state representative in North Carolina who made headlines by calling students walking out over gun violence “Tide Pod” eaters is under the microscope for self-identifying as a registered nurse on official campaign pages despite that not being the case.
Rep. Beverly Boswell was contacted by the N.C. Board of Nursing after a complaint claimed she identified herself as a registered nurse both on her campaign website and Facebook page when in reality, Boswell is a medical assistant and phlebotomist, The News & Observer reported.
Board spokesman David Kalbacker said on Tuesday that the lawmaker “is not a licensed nurse nor has she ever been a licensed nurse.”
Boswell responded to the complaint by removing a line that said “Working her way up from struggling single mother to registered nurse and Dare County Commissioner.”
She referred to the controversy as a “non-story” and explained that a campaign volunteer made the error because, “Anytime you put on a uniform and go in a doctor’s office people assume you’re a nurse or doctor and you have to correct and correct and correct.”
It is worth noting, though, that on Boswell’s personal Facebook page she still has photos up–like the one immediately below from three years ago–that use the hashtag #nursesunite.
There’s also this one captioned “Nurses with stethoscopes. Or are they nurses?”
[Images via Facebook/Boswell for NC House]