A Colorado Springs Republican lawmaker is standing behind his radio comment that his House Democratic colleagues are “anti-Christian,” saying they attack “family values.”
State Rep. Dave Williams (R-CO Springs) made the comment on conservative KNUS radio Feb. 15 during a discussion about a legislative hearing.
Williams, who’s the El Paso County Republican Party’s official liaison to the Trump Campaign, said, during a hearing on bills that were voted down by Democrats, he’d sat through “13 hours of the radical left, you know, talking about how good people of faith are terrible people.”
“I mean, what they engage in is, they’re anti-Christian,” Williams told KNUS’ Randy Corporon. “At the end of the day, Democrats are anti-Christian and, you know, they want to try and besmirch good people of faith like Jack Phillips [who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple], and that was their whole goal that day that we heard those bills.”
Williams was referring narrowly to Democrats in the Colorado House of Representatives, not everyone who is part of the Democratic Party.
“I stand by the statement,” Williams told the Colorado Times Recorder when asked about the comment on Friday. “I was referencing the House Democrats, who I believe are radical. They were trying to spin the narrative that day about Jack Phillips and Christian families.”
“Those Democrats, the House Democrats, are anti-Christian, and they want to attack family values,” he said.
State Rep. Leslie Herod (D-Denver) said Williams should help create a “inclusive and just” society, instead of calling people anti-Christian.
“I’d say to my Republican colleagues, Rep. Williams included, that honesty is a virtue,” Herod told the Colorado Times Recorder in a statement. “It would be better for all of us if they would simply be honest about these bills and their rhetoric. There are LGBTQ Coloradans who are good people too, who are people of faith, and who simply want to live, work, and exist in a state free from discrimination. The truth is that some, but not all, of my Republican colleagues would rather resort to demagoguery–calling people ‘anti-Christian’ and proposing questionable pieces of legislation– instead of joining the rest of us in creating a society that is inclusive and just.”
Williams is unabashed conservative, known for speaking out on social issues (e.g., opposing civil unions) and immigration (e.g., proposing lawmakers representing sanctuary cities be liable for crimes committed by undocumented immigrants).
Williams is seen as a leader of the Republicans’ legislative efforts to loosen vaccination rules in Colorado.
Listen to Williams on KNUS’ Randy Corporon Show Feb. 15:
