September 14, 2020 11:02 AM UTC

Former CO GOP House Leader, Former Chair of CO Republican Party Back Biden

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Former Colorado Republican Chair Ryan Call, along with former Republican House leader Cole Wist, are supporting Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Last week, Ryan Call joined Republicans and Independents for Biden, organized by the Lincoln project, a group founded by anti-Trump Republicans.

Wist discussed his support for Biden on the Craig Silverman Show podcast Saturday, saying Trump is “not a conservative.”

Asked what his breaking point for Trump was, Wist talked about Charlottesville, where a protester was killed by neo-Nazis.

“Charlottesville was, I think, a turning point for a lot of folks, because what it suggested was that this president was more interested in stirring the pot and dividing the country, rather than trying to appeal to unity to bring the country together.”

“We needed to say loud and clear after Charlottesville that bigotry is not welcome in the Republican Party,” Wist told Silverman.

Wist, who was assistant GOP house minority leader from 2016 and 2018, voted for Trump in 2016, he said, because he hoped Trump would “rise to the occasion.”

“I think a lot of people are leaving the party because they don’t believe that the standard-bearer of party represents their values,” he said.

Wist said the risks of four more years of Trump are unacceptable to him, including the risk of more division, more racial tension, less fiscal discipline. He also cited Trump’s lack of respect for the Constitution, separation of powers, and congressional authority.

The risks of a Democratic president are less, he said, calling Biden a moderate.

“Most importantly to me, [Biden is] a person who’s a decent, fine man,” said Wist, who has “no desire to be a Democrat.”

Reached by phone today, Call, who served twice as Chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, declined comment.

Both Wist and Call spoke out against Republican efforts last year to recall Democratic lawmakers in Colorado.