October 17, 2018 06:30 PM UTC

BREAKING: Denver7 Pulls False Ad Attacking Jared Polis

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• by: Colorado Pols

THURSDAY UPDATE: A second Denver television station has now pulled the ad off the air.

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Ernest Luning has the news from the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman:

Denver TV station KMGH-Denver7 decided Wednesday to pull a pro-Republican independent expenditure committee’s TV ad attacking gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis. The move came after Colorado Democrats’ attorneys demanded the ABC affiliate take it off the air because it is “false, defamatory and malicious,” Colorado Politics has learned.

Numerous media outlets in recent days have debunked the claims made in the ad, paid for by Colorado Citizens for Truth, a secretive campaign group formed last week. The ad, which started airing Saturday, alleges that Polis, a five-term congressman from Boulder, changed his name following a 1999 altercation with a former employee who later obtained a temporary restraining order against him.

“This shameful false ad by Walker Stapleton’s special-interest backers is as low as politics gets — a desperate last gasp to rescue Stapleton’s sinking campaign,” said Lisa Kaufmann, who chairs Polis’ campaign.

“Each of the four biggest news stations in Denver and other prominent news outlets across the state have debunked the claims in this ad, and we are glad to see The Denver Channel protecting its integrity by refusing to spread these falsehoods. We hope other stations quickly follow suit.”

This is HUGE news. We couldn’t tell you the last time a television station in Colorado pulled a political ad off the air for being untrue. It should happen more often, frankly, and hopefully this will be the start of a movement that could really put a stop to these false negative ads.