May 06, 2025 04:41 PM UTC

GOP Legislator: ‘Colorado Needs to be Burned to the Ground’ so Republicans Can Rise From the ‘Ashes’

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• by: Erik Maulbetsch

(Wait, what? — Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Originally posted at the Colorado Times Recorder

As the legislative session comes down to its final days, one freshman Republican has harsh words for her Democratic colleagues. State Rep. Rebecca Keltie (R-Colorado Springs) in a Sunday evening interview on a libertarian podcast called her fellow legislators evil, soulless, and corrupt, before saying she thinks Colorado needs to be burned to the ground so Republicans can rise from the ashes.

“I’ve never seen a group of people that are so … for lack of a better term, evil. I feel it when I come in there. I pray as soon as I enter the building. As soon as I enter that room, I pray. While I’m in there, I’m praying. I’ve never prayed so much in my life. … I went in there with an open mind of respect,” said Keltie. “I have lost — for almost all of them, except for maybe a few — all respect. Like, I can’t even look at them in the face. It’s very difficult for me to think that, you know, they even have a soul. I’m not even sure they even have a soul, and their eyes are just … I don’t know.

“I know it sounds weird, but I’m telling you, these people are corrupt. And the amount of money that they’re going through, it’s like you get ‘Oh, it’s a fiscal note of zero — no, it’s going to cost millions of dollars!’ But they cheat and they scheme and they scam and your money — your money in Colorado, every penny you give the state — is not safe in the hands of these people; it’s just not. We’re paying for hippy camps. We’re paying for hundreds of brand-new vehicles that they don’t need. I gave them $70 million of cuts they could make. That’s what I kind of I do in the civilian world. I go through contracts, I look at every word. That’s what I do, and I’m like, ‘Here you go, silver platter, $70 million with the cuts just from me,’ and they just [said], ‘No thanks’ and just threw it to the side. It’s a shame.

“I hate to say this, but it’s almost like the state of Colorado needs to be burned to the ground and built from the top up. I hate to say that, but from the ashes of the fire will rise a Phoenix. And that Phoenix is gonna be us. We are gonna be that Phoenix, but until we take it all the way down and we get these sons of guns out of there — I almost said a bad word. Anyways, get them out of there. I’m not sure what else we can do.”

Keltie made her comments on Free State Colorado, a podcast hosted by Brandon Wark, a conservative operative who has worked with Republicans and Libertarians, and Michael Vance, who serves as the legislative director for the Libertarian Party of Colorado. Vance made a point of praising Keltie as the only GOP legislator who signed the Libertarian Party’s candidate pledge and then won both a primary and her general election race. Keltie’s victory over incumbent Democrat Stephanie Vigil to represent Northeast Colorado Springs, made headlines for its razor-thin margin of just three votes.

Keltie’s commentary followed a long discussion of the public testimony on the controversial transgender rights bill HB1312, which was debated in the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. Both Keltie and Vance criticized Democrats’ handling of the hours-long public hearing, which they both saw as biased against opponents of the bill.

Reached for comment, Keltie confirmed her characterization of Democrats as “evil,” and referenced both HB1312 as well as a failed bill introduced by fellow Republican Rep. Brandi Bradley, which would have increased the penalties and reduced judicial discretion for sentencing of child sexual assault crimes.

“The things where they’re pushing on criminal rights, the things they’re pushing on children, the fact that they’ve turned down a bill allowing us to protect children from pedophiles and sexual assault, that’s evil to me,” said Keltie. “That is just evil to me.”

Asked about the “hippie camps” she claims taxpayers are funding, she said she believed it was funding for street performers from one of the state agency SMART budget hearings that take place at the beginning of session. The Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade administers an Arts in Society program that offers small grants to artists whose work addresses “civic and social challenges facing Colorado communities.”

As for her assertion that Colorado “needs to be burned to the ground,” Keltie says she means it in a political sense.

“That means let everything that they’re passing come to fruition and let the people of Colorado see how disastrous the policies are that they have been pushing,” says Keltie. “From the ashes will come the Phoenix. And that is going to be the reckoning of Colorado — will only become better than that. I don’t know of another way to do it. [Democrats] are not happy until they force Colorado straight into the ground. And we’re doing our best. There’s only 22 of us here. You know, it’s like, you know, but then again, the people of Colorado, they’ve got to get out and vote. They have to get out and be active. They can’t just go and vote in November and then just wash their hands of everything and stop fighting it down. This is a battle that goes on.“