Gardner’s Weekend Reading: “Once Again He Avoided the Question,” “Unworthiness for Public Service,” & “Nationally Humiliated”

Gardner refused for 16^th time to say whether it’s inappropriate for a sitting president to ask a foreign government to investigate a political rival

Senator Cory Gardner faced another round of brutal coverage this weekend after signing on to a partisan resolution defending the president despite saying he would wait for the facts. He also dodged for the 16th time the basic question of whether he thinks it’s appropriate for a president to ask foreign governments to investigate a political opponent. Then, yet another Coloradan called out Senator Gardner’s support for his party’s toxic lawsuit that threatens to send Coloradans’ health care costs soaring and end coverage protections for people with pre-existing conditions.

This weekend’s barrage follows an editorial from the Aurora Sentinel slamming Gardner for having “failed a test of fundamental integrity” and comes after Gardner was “nationally humiliated” for repeatedly dodging reporters seeking an answer to his position on the president’s conduct.

WATCH: 

Boulder Daily Camera (Editorial): Cory Gardner should defend the Constitution or resign

By the Daily Camera Editorial Board

October 27, 2019

• …Gardner’s unworthiness for public service goes beyond political disappointments. His dismal record on the environment, health care, guns and other issues does render him a poor fit for Colorado, and were his faults limited to such matters a trouncing at the polls next year would be satisfactory enough. But this is about a betrayal of public trust.

• There can be little doubt that Gardner, who in the Senate votes with Trump 90% of the time, does not represent the views of Colorado. 

• A recent poll shows Democratic Senate candidate John Hickenlooper ahead of Gardner by a comfortable 11 points. 

• Gardner does not reflect Colorado tendencies, and this alone is a reason many Coloradans want to see him voted out of office next year. But in several instances Gardner’s behavior has been so egregious as to demand a quicker exit.

• Last November, President Trump tweeted that Democrats were “Trying to STEAL two big elections in Florida!” It was the kind of Constitution-threatening rhetoric Americans have come to expect from the president. But Gardner, from his perch as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and without the slightest bit of evidence, reinforced Trump’s dangerous claim and accused election officials of “fraud.” In other words, Gardner undermined the integrity of an American election as part of a political strategy. Such gargantuan bad faith should be a fireable offense.

• Gardner this year cravenly voted to uphold Trump’s declaration of an emergency on the southern border, a move that involves the diversion of millions of dollars from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. The declaration was a brazen abuse of presidential power and theft of Congressional prerogatives, but Gardner couldn’t bring himself to object. This was the failure of leadership that moved The Denver Post Editorial Board to take the unusual step of rescinding its 2014 endorsement of Gardner.

• On Oct. 10, when speaking with reporters, Gardner declined to affirm that it is inappropriate for an American president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a domestic political rival. In his cowardly refusal to denounce Trump’s criminality, Gardner failed his Colorado constituents, he failed the country, and he failed his most basic Article I duties. He violated his oath to defend the Constitution.

Colorado Independent (Opinion): Cory Gardner makes his declaration of complete and utter dependence

By Mike Littwin

October 25, 2019

• These are words I rarely use in this order, but Cory Gardner’s latest political move has really surprised me. If you haven’t heard, Gardner has caved as one of the last seven or eight Senate Republican holdouts on Lindsey Graham’s phony-baloney resolution condemning the way that Democrats are running the House impeachment inquiry. 

• The resolution is meaningless, of course, except to Trump, who insisted that Senate Republicans do something to show their unwavering support for him. 

• What we know — as much as we know anything — is that Gardner desperately doesn’t want to discuss any of this. He was nationally humiliated when the video of a group of Colorado reporters interviewing him went viral. The reporters, starting with St. George, asked Gardner repeatedly whether it was appropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate a political rival. And repeatedly Gardner dodged the question.

• We’ve seen Gardner play this game before. But we’ve never seen it go national before. And we’ve never seen anything like it as potential fodder for Democratic ads against Gardner in the 2020 Senate race.

• I knew Gardner was never going to declare independence. But now we know he’s not even going to pretend that he might.

Colorado Sun (Opinion): Sen. Gardner, prioritize heath care of Colorado families, not special interests

By Penny Potts

October 27, 2019

• Two years ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. On top of its obvious impact on my health, that diagnosis has forever changed my life because, from now on, I will always be marked as having a pre-existing condition.

• This scares me. It scares me because I worry every day that our elected officials will choose to eliminate health care protections for people like me.

• Would our insurance cover the next procedure we needed? How expensive were our prescription drugs going to be? Will we even have insurance next week if Congress or the courts repeal the Affordable Care Act?

• When someone is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, their only concern should be getting better, fighting to stay present and grateful, and focusing on what is truly important: the ones we love. We need elected officials who will fight for us while we are fighting for our lives. 

• I am very disappointed in Sen. Cory Gardner. He repeatedly told us that he would stand up for protecting people with pre-existing conditions, but then he voted for all four previous health care repeal bills, which would have cut coverage, raised costs and gutted those protections for people with pre-existing conditions, like cancer, asthma and diabetes. 

• Sen. Gardner also repeatedly told people in Colorado that he wants to lower the cost of prescription drugs, but instead, he has taken nearly $400,000 from the health insurance and drug industries and sided with them instead of Coloradans. He even supported a health care repeal lawsuit that would let insurance companies stop covering the cost of prescription drugs. 

• I want to live in a state where I am confident that my elected officials are looking out for my family and neighbors, not the special interests. I cannot say that I have that confidence in Sen. Cory Gardner.

• He needs to do more to put his constituents in Colorado first, and that can begin with standing up against this lawsuit to repeal our health care and in favor of the voices he supposedly represents. 

###