As lawmakers in both parties and the political world react to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, a Colorado lawmaker is apologizing for his tweet on the night of the shooting.
“The last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil but here we are,” posted Democratic Rep. Steven Woodrow from Denver.
The tweet quickly wracked up close to 2 million views and thousands of comments, almost all extremely negative.
“You monster,” wrote one user. “Resign,” demanded another. “You have unmasked yourself as an enemy of America and the American people. Time to resign.” “You sir are a worthless POS.”
Woodrow deleted his social media account not long after, and told CPR News in a text message Sunday that he condemns the attempt on Trump’s life in the most forceful of terms.
“My message, as inarticulate as it was, is that acts of violence like this are awful and only make it more likely that Trump now wins. We must always resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box—not through violence. I know people are hurting, and apologize that my words caused additional pain,” Woodrow texted.
Republican Rep. Matt Soper of Delta said about eight people in western Colorado, including some constituents, reached out to ask him to call for Woodrow’s resignation, which he declined to do.
“I believe the tweet illustrates the insensitivity that we've reached in the United States where we say things like that, and later realize, ‘oh shoot, this was a real assassination attempt. This was millimeters from killing President Trump.’”
Soper is no stranger to how a tweet in-the-heat-of-the-moment can backfire into controversy. Last year he apologized for his tweet about stricter gun laws at the Colorado capitol that declared, “We will NOT bow to tyrants and those who seek to disarm us need to be prepared for civil war!”
Soper said on Sunday he certainly wishes he had written that tweet differently, but that’s why he said he can forgive Woodrow.
“You get caught in the emotion. I mean, I've been there, done that. I fully understand him.”
But the attack on Trump and people’s responses are already showing how deep the state’s political fractures already go.
Republican Rep. Ryan Armagost responded to Woodrow’s tweet on social media by calling on conservative patriots to stand together to “remove leftist extremists from office this November.”
“This is one of the CO Democrat House members playing his part in promoting his filth toward someone he disagrees with politically,” he wrote.
Democratic state party chair Shad Murib said that he spoke with Woodrow, and that the state party condemns what he described as a “regrettable” tweet.
Republicans point to anti-Trump rhetoric
Authorities have not released a possible motive for the 20-year-old gunman. But many Colorado Republicans are among those blaming Democrats' harsh rhetoric against Donald Trump for contributing to a political climate where someone might see assassination as an acceptable act.
“As a conservative and as a Republican I blame the shooter for his disgusting acts and the tragedy wrought by his hand,” wrote Todd Watkins, the vice-chair of the El Paso County GOP in a text to CPR News.
“But as an observant member of American society, I also recognize the inescapable conclusion that the hatred directed towards one man is the catalyst for this unprovoked violence.”
Watkins and other Republicans have focused in particular on a line President Joe Biden reportedly said in a call with donors last week, insisting, “we’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
“This should not be rhetoric a president should be using,” Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert said on 9News. “And here we are. Now president Trump was literally put in a bullseye, after the president of the United States, the sitting president of the United States, called for him to be put in a bullseye. I believe that the rhetoric needs to end. I hope and pray that it ends.”
Rep. Soper tweeted on Saturday that he agrees with Boebert.
“The blood of the dead and wounded, including that of Pres Trump, is on Biden’s hands! He is not fit for the office of the presidency and should be prosecuted for criminal incitement of violence and solicitation of murder.”
Soper told CPR News his post was calculated to generate a discussion, after watching news conferences and seeing a lot of pro- and anti-Trump comments flooding in from across the country. He said he believes impeachment hearings are warranted for Biden’s comments.
“It's very much encouraging violence. And if we're going to be holding people to a really high standard all the time and this no-excuses level, then Biden should have some accountability.”
Still, a day after his original tweet, Soper acknowledged that the immediate debate over Biden’s comments contributes to the heated political atmosphere that he’d like to see cool down. Soper said it’s important for people on all sides to take some time to reflect, and he hopes the conversation can become more civil.
“I'm one who's called for Biden to be looked at over his comments, right away. So I mean, I certainly play right into that as well,” said Soper. “I mean, it's the political season and we can expect, as Republicans, we're going to blame the Democrats. The Democrats are going to push back, and the entire shooting will be misplaced as to what it really was.”
Democrats have pushed back on assertions that Biden caused any of this, and argue it’s Trump that has further divided the country, including by, in their view, inciting a mob to storm the U.S capitol on January 6, 2021.
