Republicans across Colorado have been accustomed to accepting lies. Big lies, little lies, lies of omission, lies of such enormity that they seem too big to lie about. Accepting, and often repeating, lies is part-and-parcel of Republicans in the Centennial State.
It is no wonder that their chairman, two-time congressional loser Dave Williams, has lied through his teeth since the moment he took the gavel.
Williams has told whopper after whopper. From harmless bravado that he would win back majorities in the state legislature to lies that could land him before a criminal court for misusing postage meters. It is just a part of his basic makeup as a human being.
The problem has been the people who believe him.
This is not something that is unique to Colorado. Or Republicans for that matter. Politicians have been lying to people since the dawn of time. The difference has been that once the lie is exposed, the people generally turn on the politician and oust them from power. That is no longer the case in the Republican Party. Its base has rewarded those who maintain the lie, even in the face of incontrovertible proof.
It has been happening in the Republican Party for decades — most prominently since President Richard Nixon perfected the “Southern Strategy,” which stoked resentment in poor white voters against Black voters in southern states. Nevermind that those workers were neither losing jobs to Black workers nor facing some spike in criminal activity. Nixon understood that channeling an amorphous anger into focused hatred could be used as a powerful tool precisely because people tend to ignore facts when they force self-reflection.
That dog-whistle response never entirely disappeared before former President Donal Trump rekindled it throughout his time in the political world. Starting in 2011 Trump fanned the flames of “birtherism” by demanding President Barack Obama provide a birth certificate. When Trump descended his faux-gold escalator, he launched his presidential campaign with a racist rant against immigrants. Despite being disproved again and again by scholars, the media and political opponents, Trump has only escalated his rhetoric in the intervening years.
Less than two weeks ago at the Republican National Convention, multiple speakers worked the crowd into an anti-immigrant fervor before Trump brought the crowd to euphoria doubling down on lies about other countries emptying insane asylums and prisons across our borders. First, there is no evidence that is happening and plenty that it is not. Second, Trump himself spiked a bipartisan immigration solution early this year solely because he did not want the Biden-Harris administration to “get a win.”
Of course, that was only one of the lies Trump cooked up during his speech. He is lying even more now than he did in 2016 or 2020. The more fantastic the lie, the more willing his followers seem to accept it.
It is a lesson Williams took to heart.
Williams has always been prone to fear-mongering and hatred-peddling. In college, he was rebuked for his anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric (another community targeted for decades by politicians seeking political gain). While serving in the state legislature, he trafficked in similar untruths.
But it was not until he took over the chair of the state party that he really let loose.
Williams originally hoped to put disgraced Mesa County Clerk and Recorder and election denier Tina Peters on the party payroll. When that did not pan out, he continued his support, using the party email list to help raise funds for her cause. Despite outrage from clerks across the state, Williams persisted because his silo of supporters lapped it up.
And that group of supporters has been sufficiently large and sufficiently loud, they have effectively taken over and radicalized the party apparatus. Each iteration has been worse. Case in point, Williams predecessor, Kristi Burton Brown came into office promising to pull the party to the right of where former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck left it. She left it and found Williams threatening to bring criminal charges against her and deploring her as a member of the “establishment” wing of the party.
That oxymoronic complaint has led some to adopt a new phrase tossed about by conspiracy-addled party members — the “uniparty.” Apparently, people like Williams believe that members of their own party have been secretly colluding with Democrats to undermine “real” Republicans. That is a special kind of paranoia.
Things only got worse when Williams ran for Congress again. He blatantly lied to media who confronted him about party expenditures made on his campaign’s behalf. He has not just attacked country chairs who have challenged his leadership, but brought a lawsuit alleging their actions were illegal.
Thankfully voters in Colorado’s 5th Congressional district Republican Party primary soundly rejected Williams in favor of Jeff Crank. There is no telling how far Williams may have kept pushing his lies if he had a congressional soap box to stand on.
Maybe that is the first step back to normalcy. Maybe Republicans will go back to good-faith policy arguments based on well-reasoned, researched positions. But I will not hold my breath. Under leadership like Trump and Williams, they have been too willing to accept the lies for too long. Climbing out of that hole will be a hard challenge.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on Twitter: @MarioNicolaiEsq.
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