The Question Mike Coffman Still Can't Answer

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by: Colorado Pols

Fresh outrage is spreading nationwide after remarks by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, disparaging the parents of a dead American soldier who happen to be Muslim. As the New York Times reports:

Donald J. Trump reeled on Sunday amid a sustained campaign of criticism by the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq and a rising outcry within his own party over his rough and racially charged dismissal of the couple.

The confrontation between the parents, Khizr and Ghazala Khan, and Mr. Trump has emerged as an unexpected and potentially pivotal flash point in the general election. Mr. Trump has plainly struggled to respond to the reproach of a military family who lost a child, and he has repeatedly answered the Khan family’s criticism with harsh and defensive rhetoric.

Trump’s latest Tweet on the matter meets both of the above criteria:

I was viciously attacked by Mr. Khan at the Democratic Convention. Am I not allowed to respond? Hillary voted for the Iraq war, not me!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 31, 2016

The Times team who wrote today’s story reached out to Colorado’s own Rep. Mike Coffman, whose criticism for Trump’s innumerable offenses has been frequently quoted–but in the context of this year’s presidential election, which is of course the whole reason Trump’s insane blathering is relevant, never able to answer the one question that matters:

Representative Mike Coffman of Colorado, a Republican who served in combat as a Marine, decried Mr. Trump’s remarks. Mr. Coffman, who represents a crucial swing district in the Denver suburbs, said Mr. Trump had disrespected American troops.

”Having served in Iraq, I’m deeply offended when Donald Trump fails to honor the sacrifices of all of our brave soldiers who were lost in that war,” Mr. Coffman said.

Well that’s nice of him to say, but who is Mike Coffman going to vote for?

There are 100 days between now and the day when Trump may be elected President of the United States. It’s clear that Coffman thinks it’s a salient political hit to attack his Democratic opponent by linking her to the Democratic nominee (image above). Fair enough.

Coffman may have an ad in circulation claiming he’s “not like other Republicans,” but it’s an inescapable fact that Coffman is still a Republican. Is Coffman planning on voting Libertarian? Green Party? Write-in Donald Duck? Surely Coffman can’t skate by with these inconclusive non-statements of “offense” until Election Day, right? He thinks Hillary Clinton is so bad that his opponent’s support for her is disqualifying. Doesn’t he now owe voters a clear statement on who he supports for President?

Someone has to be elected President of the United States on November 8th, 2016–or God forbid within a reasonable timeframe afterward. Coffman has dodged the only question that matters about Donald Trump for all of 2016 and longer, notwithstanding when his spokesperson said he would support the GOP nominee.

The time has definitely come, indeed is well past, for Mike Coffman to put up or shut up.

10 thoughts on “The Question Mike Coffman Still Can’t Answer”

davebarnes says:

July 31, 2016 at 12:51 pm

Of course Mike will vote for Drumpf™. The GOP leadership is delusional. They think they can rein in Fuckface Von Clownstick once he is in office.

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BlueCat says:

July 31, 2016 at 1:54 pm

Yes Donald, you're allowed to respond. And everyone else is allowed to judge you by your response.

To Mike Coffman. If you think you're doing yourself any good by saying you disapprove of your party's chosen piece of garbage but refusing to say you won't vote for him…. you're not. You're just saying you're going to vote for him even though he's a piece of garbage who will endanger the country worse than any sensible, informed intelligent person of either party possibly could because he has no idea what he's talking about, no interest in learning and is a sociopath with no capacity for giving a damn about anybody but himself. Maybe this time we can finally get rid of you.

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1. BlueCat says:
  
  July 31, 2016 at 6:51 pm
  
  Donald complains that he should be allowed to respond to the Khans. If Donald and Team Trump are looking for a normal response to plagiarize (clearly they don't know how normal human beings respond to grieving parents) perhaps this response from HRC to the grieving mothers who blamed her for their sons deaths in Benghazi might serve as a good template.
  
  "My heart goes out to both of them. Losing a child under any circumstance, especially in this case — two State Department employees, extraordinary men, both of them, two CIA contractors gave their lives protecting our country, our values — I understand their grief and the incredible sense of loss that can motivate that," Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, said on "Fox News Sunday."
  
  Pat Smith, the mother of Sean Smith, who was killed in the attacks, said while speaking at the Republican National Convention earlier this month that she blamed Clinton personally for the death of her son.
  
  Please note, whether you feel the accusation was deserved or not, the response you might want to use for guidance so your heartlessness and lack of respect for those who sacrifice their lives in service to our country don’t become the story … first, praise for the heroes who gave their lives, much sympathy and no criticism of the parents, no accusation that they were just mouthpieces for the GOP, no attempt to to respond with a counter attack of any kind.
  
  That, Donald and friends, is how normal people with souls deal with angry attacks from grieving parents of heroes.
  
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  1. Conserv. Head Banger says:
    
    August 1, 2016 at 3:28 pm
    
    Regarding Pat Smith; a lady sadly in need of grief counseling; who is blaming Hillary personally for the death of her son in Benghazi; does that mean the parents of the 3,000+ Americans killed in Iraq should blame George W. Bush personally for those deaths?
    
    Moderatus: what say you on this?
    
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DaftPunk says:

July 31, 2016 at 4:38 pm

He's going to undervote the top line, if Colorado is as far gone as they're already saying.

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JohnInDenver says:

July 31, 2016 at 5:16 pm

How about other Republicans in office, especially those with spouses or children who serve? What is THEIR response?

And I've looked a bit, but can't find out the stance taken by Darryl Glenn, Air Force Academy graduate, officer and Republican Senate candidate. Would he have wanted the parents of any of his command treated as Trump treated the Khans?

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1. FrankUnderwood says:
  
  July 31, 2016 at 5:26 pm
  
  Which Darryl Glenn are you referring to?
  
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  1. BlueCat says:
    
    July 31, 2016 at 7:05 pm
    
    Maybe his other brother Darryl.
    
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Moderatus says:

August 1, 2016 at 2:19 pm

You do know that this is how half the country feels about Hillary.

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1. BlueCat says:
  
  August 1, 2016 at 2:21 pm
  
  Maybe, but she's running against Trump.
  
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