January has come and gone and we here at the Colorado Times Recorder are restarting our weekly roundup of articles relating to political extremism in Colorado. Since it has been a while since our last rewind, we will be looking back at some published work from earlier in the month. Starting off, we have Heidi Beedle’s coverage of anti-abortion advocates celebrating the Trump presidency and the pardoning of individuals who vandalized and intimidated people at pregnancy resource centers. We also have an article by Washington DC correspondent for CTR Maria Tedesco documenting the Colorado GOP celebration of Trump’s inauguration where a January 6th rioter was lauded, Erik Maulbetsch’s recent article on Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams derailing a recent Republican meeting with another attempted power grab and a column from Logan Davis on how policies from the now-infamous Project 2025 are being put in place at a national scale. Finally, we would like to draw attention to one of the first bills put forth by the Colorado GOP that targets trans people and gender-affirming care, reporting by James O’Rourke.
Anti-Abortion Activists Celebrate ‘The Most Pro-Family, Most Pro-Life American President’
Starting with something more recent, both Colorado anti-abortion activists and national figures in the movement lauded Trump’s second presidency, seeing the President as a major ally in advancing their cause. One Colorado school, Colorado Christian University which is known for its deep ties to Christian Conservatism, sent students to attend the 2025 March for Life in DC, with some attendees remarking on how much they learned about the pro-life movement. The night before the march, Trump pardoned 23 anti-abortion activists who vandalized pregnancy resource centers and intimidated people entering the facility. Other Colorado fixtures in conservative Christianity like Focus on Family expressed their excitement over what a new Trump presidency means for them.
Colorado GOP Uplifts ‘J6 Praying Grandma at Inauguration Celebration in Washington
Colorado Republicans gathered in Washinton DC to celebrate Trump’s inauguration on Jan 20. Among those in attendance was Rebecca Lavrenz, a Colorado woman also known as ‘J6 praying grandma, who was convicted of crossing a police line and entering the U.S. Capital as part of the January 6 riots that sought to prevent the certification of the 2020 election. Lavrenz was lauded by attendees as high-ranking Colorado GOP officials called for the Department of Education to be dismantled.
‘A Bloody Embarrassment’ – Colorado GOP Chair’s Meeting Goes Off The Rails
Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams’s latest attempt to consolidate power through a series of changes to party bylaws, while unsuccessful, derailed a recent meeting by the GOP. Williams tried to get the party to adopt amendments that would exclude certain members, namely ones who had criticized him, from being able to hold leadership positions. As the meeting was derailed, Williams took swipes at the GOP members of the Colorado congressional delegation. “When challenged to have a merit-focused debate before the vote, they all stayed silent and backed down. … This state party actually looks forward to the day when its elected officials publish a unified letter against Democrats in power.”
Project 2025 is Here, And Not Wasting Any Time
Although Republicans, including President Trump, tried to distance themselves from Project 2025, an initiative put out by a right-wing think tank to create a blueprint for the next Republican presidency; many aspects of that agenda are already underway by the new presidential administration. Columnist Logan Davis describes the project as “an unholy amalgam of robber-baron style industrialist wishcasting and Christian nationalist-adjustment moral enforcement”. The flurry of executive orders Trump put out within the first eight days of his presidency aims to reshape America to fit more in-line with Conservative views of race and culture, consolidating power in the executive branch in a chilling step towards authoritarianism. We recommend you read Davis’s column as it outlines how this platform if enacted will impact American society and governance. Logan Davis gained nationwide attention for his piece on now-Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s ties to Christian Nationalism, we recommend taking the time to read Davis’s new column National Republican Agenda for the next four years.
CO Republicans Kick Off Legislative Session With First Anti-Trans Bill of the Year, Targeting Insurance for Gender-Affirming Healthcare Providers
Within the first week of Colorado’s 17th legislative session, Republican lawmakers introduced a number of bills, including an attempt aimed at gender-affirming care. Rep. Scott Bottoms (R-Colorado Springs) and Se. Mark Baisley (R-Roxborough Park) put forward HB25-1068 which would allow insurers to revoke and refuse to provide malpractice insurance to to doctors who offer gender-affirming care to people under the age of 18. As reporter James O’Rourke points out, gender-affirming care has undergone extensive and rigorous scientific review and has been shown to have massive benefits for trans people and trans youth. Republicans have campaigned against the rights of trans people nationally and, in Colorado, GOP officials have pushed misinformation about transgender people. Darcy Schoening, who is running to lead the Colorado GOP, claimed that there is ‘no such thing’ as a transgender person.
