Colorado Governor Responds to News GOP Opponent Hosting Event With Podcaster Who Suggested He Be Executed: ‘I’m Definitely Not Going’
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Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) responded to his Republican opponent holding a campaign event next week with a conspiracy theorist who has suggested in the past that Polis “should be executed.”
“I’m definitely not going to this event,” Polis replied on Twitter to a tweet from prominent Colorado journalist Kyle Clark who noted the controversial background of the event’s headliner.
“NEW: A @heidiganahl campaign event on Oct 18 will be headlined by election conspiracy theorist Joe Oltmann, who has suggested @GovofCO Polis should be executed,” wrote Clark on Twitter.
I’m definitely not going to this event https://t.co/ztrnHrtUOr
— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) October 14, 2022
Clark added some background about the event, writing, “The event, billed as “Come & Get ‘Moore’ Excited About Heidi!” is hosted by the Mountain Republicans Club and 285 Tea Party. The event’s main speakers are Oltmann and Lt Gov candidate Danny Moore. Moore has said President Biden was ‘elected by the Democrat steal.’”
Joe Oltmann, a podcaster known for his violent rhetoric, has become a powerful force in GOP politics in Colorado. The Washington Post profiled him in June, noting:
From a corporate office park in the Denver suburbs, podcaster Joe Oltmann spins a daily vision of America’s dark and violent future.
“Pretty soon we’ll have gallows being built all over the country. We can take care of all these traitors to our nation,” he told listeners during an episode late last year.
“Stretch that rope,” he intoned during another, suggesting that Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) be hanged, before going on to explain that it was just a joke.
The Post’s Rosalind S. Helderman added that Oltmann’s rhetoric has led to multiple Democrats in Colorado being given security details, including Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D).
NEW: Colorado conservative activist Joe Oltmann calling for the mass hanging of “traitors,” including US Senators he names. Oltmann founded FEC United, which has a militia wing. The group was led by @ColoradoKbb until she became @cologop chair. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/Nqd9Z3hwxS
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) December 3, 2021
Oltmann and his producer once called for a “national gallows building day” and listed names of elected U.S. officials they want to see hung for treason.
A Ganahl spokesperson says the campaign agreed to participate prior to the inclusion of Oltmann and cancelled after seeing the flyer.
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) October 14, 2022
After Clark’s tweet, Ganahl’s campaign pulled out of the event. “A Ganahl spokesperson says the campaign agreed to participate prior to the inclusion of Oltmann and canceled after seeing the flyer,” Clark reported.
Ganahl has been at the center of other scandals as a candidate, including claiming that schools are putting litter boxes in classrooms for students identifying as cats. The widely debunked claim associated with anti-LGBTQ activists like Libs of TikTok drew quickly rebuttals from schools across the state.
