DENVER – National politics continued to spill into Colorado races this week, with Republican Donald Trump fueling attacks by Democrats.
First, Trump appeared to suggest that gun-rights advocates could commit violence against Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. A day after those remarks, on Wednesday, Trump turned to President Barack Obama, accusing him of founding the Islamic State.
The controversial larger-than-life candidate has been under scrutiny for comments that have led some, even in his own party, to say that he is “unfit” and does not have the “temperament” to serve as president.
And the political shrapnel has hit Republican candidates in Colorado running for Congress. Democrats have attempted to tie U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, to Trump, as Tipton is seeking re-election against Democrat Gail Schwartz of Gunnison County in the 3rd Congressional District, which includes Durango and La Plata County.
Tipton has largely stayed out of the Trump spotlight, downplaying his support from early on. He never endorsed a candidate, though he told The Durango Herald that he supports Trump as the Republican nominee.
“The presidential election, that’s a 30,000-foot view,” Tipton said.
“I’m looking at this from two perspectives, the first is what the Democratic alternative is going to be. The Republican field was talking about returning power back to our states, to our individuals, to be able to create private sector jobs, to get this economy moving. The Clinton perspective and prescription is more government, higher taxes, more regulations.
“We’re certainly hearing the national news, but I think people in our district, they know us, we’ve been out, we’ve been working in the district.”
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, has received harsher, more organized attacks attempting to connect him to Trump. He is in a difficult re-election in the 6th Congressional District race against Democratic state Sen. Morgan Carroll, the former Senate president and minority leader.
Coffman made national headlines last week for becoming the first House Republican to distance himself from Trump in a campaign ad.
“Honestly, I don’t care for him much,” Coffman says in the ad. “If Donald Trump is the president, I’ll stand up to him.”
No Colorado Republican candidate has received more attacks over Trump than U.S. Senate hopeful Darryl Glenn, an El Paso County commissioner who would like to unseat Democrat Michael Bennet.
Democrats this week pointed to recently leaked remarks from Glenn at a June forum, during which he was asked what the FBI could do to address incidents such as the June Orlando nightclub massacre.
“The FBI actually has the tools, training, equipment to do the job, but it sounds like there might be some political things happening where they’re given direction to look a different way,” Glenn said, according to a transcript of the remarks.
The audio was sent to The Huffington Post, a liberal online blog.
“Direction comes from the top ... I want to know whether or not our FBI personnel were personally directed to look the other way ... The president should be held to account for that if he gave direction that limited the FBI,” Glenn continued.
The remarks were called “Trumpian” by Democrats and allies, who perceived the comments as similar to Trump linking Obama to ISIS.
Katey Price, a Glenn spokeswoman, said, “Darryl’s point is that we have a president who refuses to even name our enemy, much less do what it takes to destroy them. His administration has tied the hands of our law enforcement and military with ridiculous rules of engagement that have made America less safe. Sadly, until we radically change our policy, we will see a lot more tragedies like the one in Orlando.”
The Bennet campaign and Colorado Democratic Party saw Glenn’s remarks as an opportunity.
“Already this week Darryl Glenn refused to denounce Donald Trump for suggesting people might inflict violence against Hillary Clinton if Trump loses the election. Now, it appears that he suggested that our president might have aided an attack against the United States. None of this has any place in our politics,” said Alyssa Roberts, a Bennet spokeswoman.
A news release from the Trump campaign Tuesday included the subject, “statement on dishonest media,” rejecting claims that Trump encouraged violence against Clinton.
In the controversial statement from a rally Tuesday, Trump said there might be something “Second Amendment people” can do to stop Clinton from picking judges to “abolish” the Second Amendment, something Clinton says she has no intention of doing.
“It’s called the power of unification – 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won’t be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump,” read the statement from Jason Miller, a Trump senior communications adviser.
Trump on Friday attempted to walk back the comment linking Obama to the formation of ISIS, claiming media simply missed the sarcasm.
“Ratings challenged @CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama (and Clinton) ‘the founder’ of ISIS, & MVP. THEY DON’T GET SARCASM?” Trump tweeted.
If the statement was sarcastic, the Clinton campaign also missed the irony.
“This is another example of Donald Trump trash-talking the United States,” said Jake Sullivan, a Clinton campaign senior policy adviser. “It goes without saying that this is a false claim from a presidential candidate with an aversion to the truth and an unprecedented lack of knowledge.”
pmarcus@durangoherald.com
