On Friday, Colorado Congressman Gabe Evans appeared on four right-wing radio shows.
That’s not news.
But it is an accusation, even though it shouldn’t be.
Under normal circumstances, who cares if Evans takes questions from four obscure talk-show hosts serving a thinning audience of (largely) male Trump supporters?
I’ve got nothing against radio yappers Dan Caplis, Ryan Schuiling, Mandy Connell, and Richard Randall. It doesn’t matter that most normal people don’t who they are or what KHOW, KNUS, or KVOR are. (Those are the Pleistocene names of their radio stations.)
Radio hosts deserve to talk to Evans.
The problem is, they shouldn’t be on his dance card when so few others are.
Just months into his term, Evans continues to perfect his skill at dodging or ignoring journalists — and, at the same time, gushing to select audiences (talk radio hosts) at select times (after Denver Mayor Johnston’s congressional testimony on immigration issues).
In the weeks leading up to last Friday’s right-wing radio tour, Evans refused to talk to multiple journalists about potential cuts to Medicaid, a health-care program serving over 25% of his constituents.
As questions piled up over whether Republicans like Evans in swing districts would fight for Medicaid, Evans released a video on Facebook. Illuminated that he can walk and talk at the same time, but the talking part didn’t answer key questions about Medicaid.
He issued a news release and vague written statements to some journalists, like Fox 31 Denver and The Denver Post. Again, no answer about whether he’d cut Medicaid benefits.
He granted an actual interview to Axios, but the outlet reported that “the freshman congressman did not directly answer Axios when asked whether he would still support a bill that included language stipulating cuts to Medicaid.”
Evans, who won his seat by 2,449 votes, told Axios that he’d hold a town hall meeting, but only if doing so would be “constructive.”
The question is, does he think it’s constructive to talk to four right-wing radio shows in one day? If you listen to those shows, you know it’s not constructive. But it’s another great way for him to avoid the hard questions.
