Walker Stapleton, who’s Colorado’s Republican candidate for governor, welcomed the endorsement of Trump yesterday, telling KNUS radio host Steffan Tubbs that he was “really happy to have the President’s support.”
“I’ll be able to walk in the front door of the White House. Jared Polis won’t get his calls returned,” Stapleton told Tubbs. “That’s not going to help the state of Colorado. And so I’m happy President Trump endorsed me, and I welcome his endorsement.”
Stapleton previously said he wants Trump to campaign with him in Colorado, so his acceptance of Trump’s “complete and total” endorsement doesn’t come as a surprise.
But Stapleton dismissed Tubbs’ question about whether Trump would be coming here, saying only that he doesn’t control the “President’s schedule” or Trump’s “Twitter account.”
Stapleton has little choice but to cozy up to Trump, even though the President lost Colorado by five points in 2016, making such a strategy risky, say political observers.
With Democrats highly energized to vote, and independent voters leaning left in the polls, Stapleton has no chance of winning if even a fraction of the Republican base doesn’t show up at the polls in November, political analysts say.
So if Stapleton were to distance himself from Trump, he’d potentially piss off Trump-loving GOP voters, making them shake their heads in disgust and stay home on election day.
Stapleton isn’t alone among key Colorado Republican candidates in embracing Trump. Others include George Brauchler, who’s running for Attorney General, State Senator Tim Neville of Littleton, who’s a candidates for a critical state senate seat, Brian Watson, who’s running for State Treasurer, and others.
Here’s the text of Stapleton’s comments to Tubbs yesterday:
Stapleton (Here at 21 minutes): I was really happy to have the President’s support, and here’s what Coloradans have to recognize. President Trump is going to be the president for the next two years. And it will help Colorado to have a governor who has a collaborative productive relationship with the White House and President Trump. We rely on the federal government for everything from school funding to infrastructure funding to the future of healthcare in Colorado. I’ll be able to walk in the front door of the White House. Jared Polis won’t get his calls returned. That’s not going to help the state of Colorado. And so I’m happy President Trump endorsed me, and I welcome his endorsement.