Colorado

How Colorado’s elected officials reacted to President Donald Trump’s inauguration

Published

1 year ago

January 20, 2025

How Colorado’s elected officials reacted to President Donald Trump’s inauguration

When President Donald Trump was sworn in for his return to office Monday for a second term, it was a historic moment for the country — and a relatively muted one for much of Colorado’s highest profile politicians.

Some Colorado Democrats were uncharacteristically silent on the event and what Trump said from the U.S. Capitol.

Here’s a roundup of notable public comments by Colorado officials:

Gov. Jared Polis, who attended the inauguration as the chair of the National Governor’s Association, reiterated a weekend statement in an X post Monday: “The relationship between states and the federal government is critical to getting things done and delivering for Americans, and I look forward to making sure that the voice of the Governors and the states is heard in Washington D.C.”

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, the Republican congresswoman for eastern Colorado in the 4th Congressional District, tweeted “Daddy’s home!!” paired with Time Magazine’s recent cover illustration showing Trump back at the desk in the Oval Office. In a follow-up statement, she said Trump’s inauguration “marks the start of a new, magnificent era for America.”

“Coloradans should know that President Trump and Vice President Vance will put their interests first and I am thrilled to work with them to enact an agenda that prioritizes the 4th District’s needs,” she wrote. “We will unleash our oil & gas producers to make America energy dominant, secure our Southern border to protect our families from crime and fentanyl, and get our ranchers, farmers, and Colorado’s agriculture community the support they need to continue feeding families across our state and country.”

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat who represents the 7th Congressional District in the center of the state, quoted former President Joe Biden in her own X post: “You can’t love your country only when you win.”

“While this is far from what we wanted to see, I will still try to work with the new administration when possible,” she wrote. “However, I am also ready for the fight ahead to protect our freedoms, our democracy, and increase opportunity for working people.”

U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, the Republican newly elected to the Colorado Springs-centered 5th Congressional District, posted a photo from the Capitol and added, “Let’s make America great again!” Fellow Republican newcomer U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, from northern Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, also posted a photo from the ceremony and said he was “so honored to be a part of a historic day for our country.”

Colorado’s third newly elected Republican, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd of the Western Slope, wrote: “It was an honor to be a part of the peaceful transfer of power and to celebrate our Constitution and American democracy. Congratulations to (Trump). I am eager to work together and deliver for (the 3rd District). Republicans are ready to get to work!”

In a statement published on his website, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Crow — who represents Aurora — called on Trump to work with Democrats to address the cost of housing, food and gas.

“Donald Trump won the election and is our new President,” he wrote. “… I have always made it my priority to get results for Coloradans. With President Trump taking office, I will work to find common ground with President Trump to meet our country’s challenges. I’ll also not be afraid to continue speaking up on issues that matter most to Colorado.”

In a post on X, the Colorado Democratic Party wrote that Trump’s victory “was not the result that many of us worked for, and this is going to be a difficult day for many as we watch Donald Trump and his cabinet of billionaires prepare to take our country backward.”

“The many challenges facing Colorado, our country, and the world call for leadership that can rise to the moment, bridge our divides, and work toward the betterment of all,” the party wrote. “That said, we all know Trump’s track record from his first time, what he campaigned for, and we have the receipts to show how unlikely it is that regular working people will benefit from his presidency. If this is anything like last time, the rich will get richer while the rest of us struggle to get by.”

As of 2:30 p.m., the Colorado Republican Party and neither of Colorado’s U.S. senators, John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet, had appeared to make any public remarks about the inauguration.

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Originally Published: January 20, 2025 at 2:59 PM MST

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Colorado

Letter to the editor: Don’t let Democrats gut TABOR in Colorado

Published

3 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Letter to the editor: Don’t let Democrats gut TABOR in Colorado

Democrats frustrated? Fine by me! House Speaker Julie McCluskie says we need a real conversation about the state’s fiscal constraints? Well, here it is.

The state is required to pass a balanced budget just like everyone else who lives here, spending no more than what is available, unless they want to file for bankruptcy. Yet Democrats controlling Colorado continue to desire more and more of our money to fund and expand their pet projects in order to take care of us. They will certainly do that if we let them, but perhaps not how we expect.

Their expansion of Medicaid over the years is a good example. The Dems relied on federal payments that were increased in the COVID years to expand the program, knowing good and well those payments were only temporary. Now they want the citizenry to keep funding those increases. Same with many other of their nanny state programs.

The good-thinking citizens of Colorado voted down TABOR attacks by the Democrats in 2019 and 2023 by significant amounts, yet they continue to try circumventing it, even calling many of their tax increases “fees” in order to get around it. The populace knows reality.

“Liberal groups”, woefully unidentified by Summit Daily, are attempting to gut our TABOR flat tax and push us into a graduated income tax so well-off individuals have to pay even more. Why? To be more fair? No. To raise more revenue the Democrats can spend, just like California and New York. That would turn us into a comparable state all right, where wealthy citizens would just leave to avoid higher taxes. What happens when the wealthy leave? Colorado would lose even more revenue, unless of course, the rest of us pay more. That would happen if TABOR is gutted.

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Colorado

Police arrest 2 juveniles, search for third in Colorado, accused of crashing stolen car into patrol vehicle

Published

15 hours ago

March 23, 2026

Press Room

Police arrest 2 juveniles, search for third in Colorado, accused of crashing stolen car into patrol vehicle

Updated on: March 23, 2026 / 7:17 AM MDT
/ CBS Colorado

Police in Arvada arrested two juveniles and searched for a third juvenile early Monday morning in connection with an auto theft. According to investigators, the suspects swerved at officers who were on foot in the area near 60th Avenue and Yarrow Lane.

Police in Arvada searched for a third suspect wanted in connection with crashing a stolen vehicle into a patrol vehicle near 60th and Yarrow.

CBS

That’s when they allegedly drove into a patrol vehicle.

After a brief chase, officers were able to track down two suspects and continued to search for the final suspect.

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Colorado

Colorado man convicted of multi-million-dollar scheme to sell hand sanitizer during COVID

Published

1 day ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Colorado man convicted of multi-million-dollar scheme to sell hand sanitizer during COVID

A 51-year-old Castle Rock resident was recently found guilty on 15 counts of fraud by jurors in Denver federal court.

According to a court document, Rico Tomas Garcia received $2.4 million from two businesses at the outset of the COVID pandemic. He spent the money to purchase a vehicle and three properties without delivering any of the promised product.

Garcia agreed in April 2020 to provide nine million 16-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer to a Virginia-based distributor of personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety work gear, according to the grand jury indictment in his case. A second company financed the deal for the distributor.

If reached in full, the deal would have paid Garcia $37.8 million. But Garcia reportedly moved the first $2.4 million paid to him into accounts held by three corporations operated by he and his girlfriend.

A month after making the deal, none of the product was delivered and the finance company halted payments and demanded a refund. Instead, Garcia, according to the indictment, falsified documents about his arrangements with a Chinese manufacturer of the hand sanitizer.

The contract was terminated in June of that year.

Garcia allegedly bought homes in Topanga Canyon, California and Sedalia, Colorado, plus an undisclosed Nevada property, with the ill-gotten proceeds. Federal prosecutors also allege Garcia moved over a million dollars of the remaining money into offshore accounts in the Caribbean.

A federal grand jury indicted Garcia in April 2024. He was taken into custody eight months later. The jury reached its verdict March 9 after a week-long trial, finding him guilty of nine counts of wire fraud and six counts of money laundering.

Meanwhile, the distributor and its finance company are still trying to resolve their finances through a civil lawsuit filed the year the deal went south.

Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8.

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