June 01, 2026 12:02 PM UTC

Colorado Republicans Elect Leader Who Called Trump a ‘Nutcase’

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Start the Kathleen Sgamma clock — Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Originally posted at the Colorado Times Recorder

After Republicans nominated Donald Trump as their presidential candidate in 2016, Craig Steiner — who was elected by Colorado Republicans over the weekend to be their new leader — announced on Facebook that he thought Trump was a “nutcase” and dropped his affiliation with the Republican Party.

“But I believe over the last week the Republican Party lost all remaining pretense of principled conservatism while the national party simultaneously lost any credible claim to being the party of the ‘rule of law,’ wrote Steiner on Facebook July 22, 2016. “The nominee is a nutcase who can’t even stop defending the National Enquirer the day after the Convention. And in a way I haven’t seen in past elections, this race has turned people I know into people I barely recognize. It’s disheartening.

“Though I’ve considered myself a Republican since I saw Reagan debate Carter at age 9, today with sadness, I updated my party affiliation.”

Steiner, who’s a former GOP chair of the House District 43 Republicans and former Douglas County GOP chair, went on to write at the time, “For those who support this nominee, I have no quarrel with you. Just as I must do what I think is right, I recognize that you need to do what you believe is right. I understand the logic. I just can’t join you this time – not with this nominee.

“I will, however, continue to advocate for conservative principles and will continue to support and vote for individuals who I believe will uphold them.”

Steiner has since rejoined the Republican Party, though it is unclear when that occurred. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“If we focus on getting out the vote instead of fighting with each other, we will earn donor trust, have more resources, and reverse the ominous Democrat trend in Colorado, states Steiner on his campaign-for-GOP-chair website, adding on KNUS today that he hopes he’s “coming in with at least some goodwill and not immediate suspicion by one half of the party or the other for having been involved in [previous infighting over party chairs].”

Following the 2020 election, Steiner took another notable position in opposition to Trump when he wrote, “Do I think Trump lost? Yes, probably.”

Leaders of the GOP have faced waves of turmoil over many years, and Steiner’s elected predecessor, Brita Horn, faced similar drama before her April resignation.

“I’d like to modify a well-known quote,” said Steiner, as quoted by Colorado Politics after he was nominated. “Colorado Republicans will win when we love defeating Democrats more than we hate each other, and I think we can do that.”

Steiner was endorsed by former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, former state Sen. Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch, former House Speaker Frank McNulty, and former House Minority Leader Patrick Neville, according to Colorado Politics.

After two rounds of voting in by the Republican Central Committee Buena Vista, Steiner defeated El Paso County Republican Jeremy Goodall, election conspiracist Joe Oltmann, and businessman Curtis McCrackin.

After the 2021 insurrection, Steiner reacted with a “meh,” explaining that he was “not heavily invested in whether one group of lawless people storm a building full of another group of lawless people.”

Steiner’s criticism of Trump could create anger not only from Trump-loyalists within the Colorado Republican Party, but from the president himself.

Colorado oil-and-gas advocate Kathleen Sgamma was apparently to withdraw her nomination to lead the federal Department’s Bureau of Land Management after it became known that she criticized Trump over his role in the January, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

RELATED: Two Colorado elected GOP officials say goodbye to the Republican Party