February 22, 2016 10:59 AM UTC

Call For Mike Coffman To End Silence About Donald Trump

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• by: ProgressNow Colorado

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

POLS UPDATE: The press release below asks Rep. Mike Coffman to take a stand one way or the other on Donald Trump, but at the very bottom of an obscure paywalled story in the Colorado Statesman right after the Iowa caucuses, it does appear that Coffman was already on the record–at least via his campaign spokesperson:

“Will Mike Coffman support the Republican nominee over Bernie or Hillary?” said campaign spokeswoman Kristin Strohm. “The answer is obviously yes. [Pols emphasis] And he believes strongly it is going to be Marco Rubio.”

After two more losses for Rubio in two subsequent primaries, we’d say it’s okay to ask again…

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After the chairman of the Republican National Committee announced that the Republican Party will support Donald Trump if he secures that party’s nomination for President, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, demanded that Rep. Mike Coffman end his own silence on Trump’s divisive campaign.

“For months now, Mike Coffman has run away from questions about whether he would back Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for President–sometimes literally,” said ProgressNow Colorado political director Alan Franklin. “After Trump’s resounding victory in last weekend’s South Carolina Republican primary, GOP chairman Reince Priebus announced that his party would support Trump if he keeps winning. Now, it’s time for Mike Coffman to come out of hiding and tell the voters of his district whether he will follow his party’s lead.”

Last December, Rep. Mike Coffman was repeatedly asked by Roll Call if he would support Trump as the GOP presidential nominee. Coffman awkwardly evaded the question, saying “I’m not going to go there,” then told the reporter while fleeing to an elevator that Trump is “not going to be the nominee.” [Roll Call, 12/10/15] After Trump’s victory in the South Carolina primary Saturday, GOP chairman Reince Priebus stated that the party will support whoever wins the nomination, including Trump. [ABC News, 2/21/16]

“Mike Coffman is the only member of Congress from Colorado who has claimed that President Barack Obama ‘is not an American,’ and that Social Security is a ‘Ponzi scheme,'” said Franklin. “When Coffman runs away from questions about Trump, is it because Coffman own views are so close to Trump’s that he can’t bring himself to condemn Trump’s campaign? Is Coffman afraid of opposing Trump, for fear of losing support if Trump wins the Republican presidential nomination?”

“Donald Trump is now the biggest story in American politics,” said Franklin. “Mike Coffman’s continuing silence on Trump is an insult to the voters he represents, and a disservice to everyone who agrees that Trump is a grave threat to American values. If Coffman won’t speak out to condemn Trump’s hateful rhetoric, we have no choice but to assume he supports it.”