Hickenlooper for Colorado press secretary Ammar Moussa released the following statement regarding Mitch McConnell’s super PAC’s latest false attack ad:
“All the false dark money attack ads in the world won’t make Coloradans forget how Senator Gardner continues to sell them out for Donald Trump. Just today, Senator Gardner is readying his rubber stamp for a meeting with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee who he is helping ram through to overturn the Affordable Care Act and its protections for pre-existing conditions. This latest false attack only makes it clear just how desperate Mitch McConnell is to keep his rubber stamp in the Senate. Colorado voters won’t be fooled; they know John Hickenlooper’s the problem solver we need to change Washington, protect health care, and help our economy build back stronger from COVID-19.”
And speaking of ethics, an FEC complaint is currently pending on Gardner allegedly accepting illegal contributions from the group behind this ad when President Trump visited Colorado earlier this year.
See below for the facts about this false ad.
FACT: Hickenlooper does not support defunding the police; he supports reform.
- “I don’t think we should defund the police, but I do believe we need to reform the police.”- Hickenlooper, 6/9/20
- Hickenlooper has repeatedly called for banning police chokeholds, requiring body cameras, and addressing the systemic inequities in our criminal justice system.
FACT: As Governor, Hickenlooper expanded health care to over half a million Coloradans, and will fight in the Senate to protect and expand health care.
- As Hickenlooper has said dozens of times, he supports establishing a national public option to allow people to buy into an affordable health care system. – Hickenlooper
- Unlike Hickenlooper, Cory Gardner voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, putting protections for 2.4 million Coloradans with pre-existing conditions at risk.
FACT: In an editorial, the Denver Post called Hickenlooper “an ethical public servant” who “tried to comply with the spirit and letter of the law.”
- A Denver Post editorial said, “we don’t believe Hickenlooper was trying to undermine the system, or disrespect the commission, or avoid accountability. In fact, the governor has been extremely transparent.”
- They also noted “there is ample evidence that he tried to comply with the spirit and letter of the law,” and “we consider both of those infractions to be relatively minor violations of the ethics laws.”
- They further noted Hickenlooper was “an ethical public servant” who made “an honest mistake.”
