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Colorado Democratic Party chair calls on Boebert to denounce Proud Boys or drop out of CD3 race

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October 18, 2020, 8:39 am

Colorado Democratic Party Chair Morgan Carroll on Saturday called for Republican congressional candidate Lauren Boebert to drop out of the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District for failing to unequivocally denounce the Proud Boys – a white nationalist group deemed extremist by the FBI.

Morgan Carroll

Carroll’s statement follows a Thursday report by ABC News that Boebert’s former campaign manager, Sherronna Bishop, previously praised the Proud Boys, thanking god for the group and its aggressive – and usually armed – protest and counter-protest tactics.

“Boebert’s closest advisor has been found to be an admirer of the Proud Boys, a white supremacist organization that Donald Trump instructed to ‘stand back and stand by,’” Carroll wrote in a prepared statement, referring to President Trump’s now-infamous debate shoutout to the group that instantly boosted its profile and led to “standing by” logos and t-shirts.

Facing bipartisan condemnation and fully two days after the chaotic Sept. 29 presidential debate against Democrat Joe Biden, Trump – a Republican – condemned the Proud Boys, the KKK and other white supremacist groups to a smaller audience on FOX News. Boebert’s campaign, pressed repeatedly by RealVail.com, has declined to respond to Trump’s “stand by” comment.

“Boebert’s response about her former campaign manager’s statements is not enough,” Carroll said Saturday. “People in Congressional District 3 are voting right now — they deserve to know if Boebert will denounce the Proud Boys. If Lauren Boebert can’t unequivocally denounce white supremacists like the Proud Boys, she needs to drop out of the race. Full stop. No one who entertains support from white supremacist groups like the Proud Boys should be in government.”

Lauren Boebert

Asked for a response to Carroll’s comments, a Boebert campaign spokeswoman on Saturday emailed the same statement sent to ABC News:

“Lauren denounces all forms of violence and racism, and has no connection whatsoever with the Proud Boys. Connecting Lauren in any way with the Proud Boys on the part your organization would be wholly irresponsible,” the spokeswoman wrote. “Lauren has been on the record multiple times saying that racism has no place in America.”

With just under two weeks to go until the Nov. 3 election, Boebert is locked in a tight race against Democratic former state lawmaker and Routt County commissioner Diane Mitsch Bush for the massive district that includes most of the Western Slope and the western two-thirds of Eagle County.

State Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush, D-Steamboat Springs.
Diane Mitsch Bush

The district, which trends conservative, is currently represented by Scott Tipton, a five-term Republican who surprisingly lost to Rifle restaurant owner Boebert in the June 30 primary. Boebert has been a controversial figure, with favorable comments about the debunked and dangerous QAnon conspiracy movement and links to armed extremist groups.

In an email to supporters on Friday, Mitsch Bush condemned the statements from Boebert’s former campaign manager.

“If that’s not an endorsement of their radical ideas and violence, I don’t know what is,” Mitsch Bush wrote. “Boebert has a history with groups like these. She stands by her support of other right-wing militias, has appeared on QAnon-supporting online shows that were recently taken off of YouTube, and is actively courting far-right extremists across the country.”

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.