U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper invoked Valley Forge at an event in Grand Junction Monday night while encouraging disaffected voters to stay engaged in politics. But he also invoked collegiality to defend his approach to navigating Trump politics.
Hickenlooper spoke to a crowd of hundreds at the Asteria Theatre at Colorado Mesa University. And, while the first-term Senator referenced George Washington's fortitude during the Revolutionary War as grounds to not give up hope, attendees asked him to show more fight in standing up to Trump’s policies.
“You have said you're going to fight like hell against Trump policies, but what some of these actions demonstrate is something else,” Mesa County resident Claire Ninde said to Hickenlooper, noting Hickenlooper’s votes for 10 of President Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees.
Hickenlooper specifically defended his support for cabinet choices like Chris Wright for Energy Secretary and Doug Burgum for Interior because he felt he could have some influence on them at the margins. As an example, Hickenlooper referenced a federal grant that he and others are working to unfreeze that is intended to bolster water security in Western Colorado.
“They're going to try and claw that (grant funding) back. I think I can get Burgum to loosen that up,” Hickenlooper said.
Environmental groups have criticized the cabinet picks, but Hickenlooper said he sees in Wright and Burgum a chance to salvage parts of the climate work that started under Biden, something he says he did not see in other would-be nominees.
“You should have seen the other people that they were talking about (for cabinet positions.) I'm not being funny,” Hickenlooper said, adding later: “In a funny way, we're at war and you've got to be pragmatic as well as ruthless.”
Ralph Wilson, a Mesa County resident who attended the event, said after the town hall that he appreciated Hickenlooper’s efforts but thinks the current politics may not favor some of his approaches.
“I think ‘ruthless’ is good. Pragmatic? I mean, you're going to have to have some kind of plan and we're learning you need to be ruthless,” Wilson said.
While Hickenlooper drew questions about some of his concessions, he spent much of the evening outlining policies and actions by the Trump administration he could not abide by. He told reporters that the wrongful deportation of a man to an El Salvadorian prison was “the single most egregious act that I've seen our government condone,” and that feared cuts to Medicaid were “unfathomable.”
Hickenlooper also said he felt there would be enough pressure on some Republicans to thwart some actions of the Trump Administration, pointing to Republican Congressman Jeff Hurd, whose district includes Grand Junction and who introduced a bill to reassert Congress’ power over tariffs.
“You can boo him later,” Hickenlooper said, responding to a crowd reaction at the reference of the freshman congressman’s name, “but he's one of two Republicans who signed onto a bill.”
Hickenlooper, who has stops planned in Glenwood Springs and Eagle this week, said he knew a number of audience members weren’t “going to love this” approach to his Senate role, but he felt that pushback to Trump policies was gaining a wider foothold and that Democrats could build on public outcry as they develop an agenda over the next few months and, eventually, build toward a 2028 presidential candidate, something he was quick to say would not involve his name.
“And it's not going to be me. Just for the record: No interest. Zero,” Hickenlooper said. “Cut my finger, (sign) it in blood.”
