Man who called for death of gay governor is now headlining a Republican event

Out Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) spoke out against an event promoting his Republican opponent after it was announced that the headliner was a man who once called for his execution.

“I’m definitely not going to this event,” Polis wrote in response to a tweet from journalist Kyle Clark, who pointed out that the headliner for a Heidi Ganahl campaign event would be famed election denier Joe Oltmann.

I’m definitely not going to this event https://t.co/ztrnHrtUOr

— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) October 14, 2022

On his podcast, Oltmann has been influential in pushing the far-right conspiracy theory that the presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump.

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Referring to Polis, he also reportedly once declared, “Stretch that rope,” implying that Polis should be hanged. In fact, he has called for building gallows across the country to hang politicians he calls “traitors,” and according to the Washington Post, he has been responsible for several Colorado Democrats needing security details.

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NEW: Colorado conservative activist Joe Oltmann calling for the mass hanging of “traitors,” including US Senators he names. Oltmann founded FEC United, which has a militia wing. The group was led by @ColoradoKbb until she became @cologop chair. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/Nqd9Z3hwxS

— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) December 3, 2021

After Clark called out the Ganahl campaign for participating in an event in which Oltmann is part, a campaign spokesperson reportedly told Clark they were pulling out of it.

“A Ganahl spokesperson says the campaign agreed to participate prior to the inclusion of Oltmann and cancelled after seeing the flyer,” Clark tweeted.

A Ganahl spokesperson says the campaign agreed to participate prior to the inclusion of Oltmann and cancelled after seeing the flyer.

— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) October 14, 2022

Ganahl has also been peddling the false claim that Colorado schools are accommodating student “furries” who identify as cats and dogs.

In a radio interview last month, Ganahl said that “schools are tolerating” students “identifying as cats.” She said in a debate with gay incumbent Gov. Jared Polis (D) that she had received over 100 messages from parents “across Colorado” mentioning the issue in their schools.

Various conservatives have repeated lies about schools recognizing furries as a gender identity, but fact-checkers and school districts have repeatedly debunked such stories as hoaxes.

In reality, such stories are meant to bias people against transgender individuals and against transgender-inclusive school policies, since they mock the idea of living as one’s authentic self.

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