Gardner announces five general election debates, 9News anchor’s meltdown ensues

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is ready for campaign season and he made that very clear with his early announcement of accepting five general election debates starting in September.

Gardner challenged his eventual Democrat opponent to join him at the following five debates:

• KOAA News5, Colorado Politics, The Gazette and El Pomar Foundation’s Forum for Civic Advancement on Sept. 1 in Colorado Springs
• Club 20, a Western Slope advocacy organization, on Sept. 19 in Grand Junction
• KDVR, KXRM and KFQX on Sept. 29 in Denver, also airing in Colorado Springs and Grand Junction
• KCNC, The Colorado Sun and PBS 12, which used to be called Colorado Public Television, on Oct. 14 in Denver

Out of the five debates Gardner has accepted, three will be televised on Colorado TV across the state, but that wasn’t good enough for one 9News reporter who, as usual, chose to make it all about himself.

Why would it matter what station the debates are on?

Gardner accepted 3 TV debates, two airing statewide. #copolitics #cosen https://t.co/4WErWEEjR8

— Kyle Kohli (@kylekohli) May 20, 2020

Kyle Clark was so upset he even wrote an entire article about it.

Incumbent Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner has declined an invitation to debate the winner of the 2020 Democratic primary on 9NEWS. He’s the first U.S. Senate candidate to decline since 1998 https://t.co/uiAijXvUyj #copolitics #9news

— Next with Kyle Clark (@nexton9news) May 20, 2020

Noticeably absent from the tweet and article headline is the fact that Gardner accepted multiple other debates, but having that context in his click-bait headline doesn’t really fit into Clark’s narrative.