Last night was the 1,247th debate (we’ve lost count) of the GOP U.S. Senate primary. While it was great for 9News to host an opportunity for Republicans to get to know the U.S. Senate candidates, some Republicans were frustrated that 9News hosts seemed to focus the debate on where the candidates stood on presumptive GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump in the wake of eyebrow raising remarks about a judge’s impartiality.
We’re with Republican Rep. Scott Tipton when he says that “racism has no place in the GOP”. And, we unequivocally denounce his remarks, but that’s Trump’s mess to clean up.
Today, the day after 9News spent so much time ascertaining where GOP candidates stood on these issues, nearly all of the Colorado Democratic leadership held a press conference to highlight and condemn Trump’s remarks. The timing just seems…odd, although, admittedly, Trump’s remarks were a topic du jour. But more than one person emailed us to complain that so much time was spent on Trump instead of the issues impacting Coloradans.
So, we asked 9News hosts Brandon Rittiman and Kyle Clark on Twitter. Here’s what Clark said (it looks like we interrupted his day off – sorry buddy):
@BrandonRittiman @COpeakpolitics I was unaware yesterday. Actually, still not aware. Not at work. Not plugged in on that yet.
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) June 8, 2016
Here’s what Rittiman said:
@COpeakpolitics@KyleClark Personally, I did not know about the presser until this morning. But I was pretty engrossed in debate prep.
— Brandon Rittiman (@BrandonRittiman) June 8, 2016
That’s entirely plausible. But we just have to ask the question.