Conservative talk radio hosts Chuck Bonniwell and Julie Hayden, and conservative activist/talk radio host Karen Kataline, went on the air Monday to express their disapproval of the “effeminate country club Republicanism” of Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO), by comparing him to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).
Romney, a former Republican presidential candidate, has received major flack from conservatives for criticizing Trump. Kataline, at one point, accused Gardner of similarly not being a true conservative.
“Anyone–any Republican who’s been running — Cory Gardner, Cory Gardner!,” said Kataline, “–Anybody who’s been running on basic fundamental conservative principles, who’s threatened by America’s success with basic fundamental conservative principles, has been exposed as not a conservative. They’ve been exposed as a globalist who has financial gain — […]”
Bonniwell, who is usually critical of Gardner for not endorsing Trump and his actions in a more full-throated and forceful manner, framed the senator’s predicament this way:
“Cory Gardner, he’s got the worst of all worlds. One, he can’t get away from Trump because the other side’s not going let him get away from Trump, unless he was so dramatic that he’d lose all of his base. His whole thing is to run arm’s length from Trump and attract all these moderate independent voters–except they’re not gonna let him. They’re going to tie him to Trump no matter what he does.”
Hayden also proposed that Gardner was making preparations in response to his likely loss in 2020. “Cory Gardner, I’m sure, is going to leave Congress — or leave the Senate — far richer than when he started at the Senate […]. He’s not going to go back and, you know, work at Noodles or something, in Yuma, Colorado.”
Bonniwell agreed to an extent, suggesting that in a year from when Gardner exits Senate, he will see money from inside trading and lobbying.
“He’ll be a lot richer one year out — a year out. He will not be richer necessarily [upon leaving the Senate], although they can inside trade, so who knows what he’s done on that. […] He’s already made his agreement through lobbying firms and he’ll be in a great position to be a lobbyist. I mean, he gets along with McConnell. He gets along with the leadership. He also gets along with the Democrats. He gets along with Michael Bennet and others, as well as […] Hickenlooper. He will be the pluperfect — and he set it up that way –lobbyist. He will make millions.”
Another conservative talk radio host and president of the Arapahoe County Tea Party, Randy Corporon, said today while guest-hosting on the Peter Boyles Show that he doesn’t think Gardner will be able to get re-elected in 2020.
“Because for all the talent and likeability quotient of, for instance, a Sen. Cory Gardner, what I hear and see from the Republican base right now when it comes to the senator, I don’t think he’s going to make it in 2020. And it’s essential for the president’s agenda that Cory Gardner is among the senators that are reelected, whether people or everybody likes him or not.
Listen to audio recordings of the quotes included in this post in the link below:
Clarification: This post was edited to more clearly and accurately attribute quotes which appear in the text. A link to the audio recordings of these quotes was also added.
