Colorado congressional candidate and incumbent state representative Richard Holtorf received a harsh grilling from a local news anchor about abortion last week.
The 59-year-old Republican made headlines in January when he defended footing the bill for his girlfriend’s abortion, despite having sponsored a failed 2020 measure that would have banned the procedure after 22 weeks.
“I respected her rights and actually gave her money to help her in her important and critical moment,” Holtorf said at the time, of the abortion performed around 1986.
Holtorf, who represents the Eastern Plains, is running against Lauren Boebert. He is a staunch opponent of abortion, to the point that he dropped his firearm inside the Capitol while rushing to vote against it a few months ago.
9 News Anchor Kyle Clark focused on this hypocrisy, questioning the candidate for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District at length during the process.
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Colorado Congressional candidate and sitting state Rep. Richard Holtorf (R) received a harsh grilling at the hands of local news anchor Kyle Clark (left) about abortion last week, a few months after he defended footing the bill for his girlfriend’s procedure.
Clark zeroed in on this hypocrisy, questioning the candidate for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District at length during the process, during which he sometimes seemed at a loss for words.
‘If abortion was the best option for your girlfriend, why try to deny that option to other women?’ Clark bluntly asks to start.
Holtorf, at first, seems to fumble for a direct answer, before saying that he is “a pro-life Catholic” who believes “everyone should choose life.”
‘If you listen to my presentation in the room, did you hear it?’ Holtorf asks, referring to his now widely seen comments made in the House of Representatives earlier this year.
“Actually, I did, I just quoted him,” Clark responds, showing no fear at the politician sitting a few feet away.
“Okay, what was the main theme and what did I have to repeat probably 20 times?” Holtorf responds.
“Let me help you,” he adds quickly, interrupting the interviewer in the process.
“Oh, I thought you were asking me a question,” Clark replies, as things continue to heat up.
‘Forward. Go ahead,” says Holtorf at this point, before the 9News journalist analyzes his words.
“To be fair, your logic was a little scattered in that speech,” Clark says, apparently ready for round two.
‘If abortion was the best option for your girlfriend, why try to deny that option to other women?’ Clark bluntly asks to start.
Holtorf, at first, seems to be looking for a direct answer, before saying that he is “a pro-life Catholic” who believes that “everyone should choose life.”
“What I’m asking you about is the fact that you said you respected your girlfriend’s right to an abortion and then gave her money to help her at an important time.”
“Exactly what I did,” Holtorf replies.
“But you still tried to deny it to other women, and I ask you why an abortion is good for your girlfriend but bad for other women,” Clark continues.
‘That is my question. Simple, simple question.
—So you got sidetracked. And by the way, you did a good job.
Holtorf, at this point, seems visibly upset and also doesn’t don his trademark cowboy hat for the outing.
He responds by saying that “the main theme of that presentation, if you listen to it, and I want you to listen to it again, is ‘choose life,'” a message he claims to have said “20 times” during the January show.
‘There are times when that choice cannot be made or it is complicated, especially for women, okay?’ he continues.
“What were you doing when you were 20?” he asks Clark at this point, referring to his young age and that of his then-girlfriend at the time of the procedure.
“I respected her rights and actually gave her money to help her at her important and critical time,” Holtorf said in January of the previously unknown procedure. She currently represents the Eastern Plains of Colorado.
When Clark responds that he was a junior in college, Holtorf continues to offer more information about the decision.
‘I found out I was pregnant the week I was sent to military training in the
Summer of, uh, I think it was 1986, and guess what you do when you have military orders: you deploy. Well? I went to Fort Washington, spent a month and a half there, then went to California, spent another month, and then returned from my military training to Fort Collins Colorado, where I was attending as a student.
“Guess what my girlfriend told me she did and I asked her not to do it,” he says.
‘I said, Kyle, we’ll figure this out when I get home… She had an abortion.
‘Was that your choice? Yes. Did he have that right? Yes. Was it my choice, Kyle? No.’
Clark, seemingly unmoved, goes on to ask, “Why are you trying to deny the choice that you said was best for your girlfriend’s life?”
Holtorf tries to interrupt, but Clark doesn’t give him the option this time.
‘Why do you seek to deny it to other women?’
Holtorf sponsored a failed 2020 measure that would have banned the procedure in the state after 22 weeks. He made headlines that same year when he dropped his licensed firearm on the House floor while rushing to vote in favor of the ill-fated guideline.
He’s set to run against Lauren Boebert (pictured outside the US Capitol on April 30), who he recently said “needs to learn how to dress” after comparing her to women working on the streets near the building of the Colorado capitol and who wear “high heels, shorts.” skirts, low-cut blouses
Holtorf responds by saying that as a “pro-life person,” he believes “you should try to choose life at all times.”
“But there are exceptions,” he continues. ‘And there are times when abortion is necessary. Abortion is a medical procedure.’
—One of the exceptions is when Richard Holtorf is the father? Clark asks, goading the politician.
‘It’s not about me. Don’t personalize it or make it about me,” Holtorf responds.
Clark then reminds Holtorf again how he had discussed his girlfriend’s abortion in the Colorado House of Representatives, a fact the politician dismisses as an unimportant detail.
“That doesn’t matter,” Holtorf says in the now-viral clip. ‘That’s a story. That’s not so important. “What’s more important is politics.”
Aside from her stance on abortion, Holtorf recently made headlines by criticizing her Colorado Republican rival, Boebert, saying the representative “needs to learn how to dress” and comparing her to women who work on the streets near the Capitol building. Colorado.
‘(Those who wear) high heels, short skirts, low-cut blouses,’ she said.
Boebert’s personal and family drama, Holtorf said, would also encourage voters in Colorado to support someone else.
“She has a lot of problems with her family, with herself and her family life, as well as a lot of legal problems,” he said last month. “And that doesn’t reflect well on a son who has recently been arrested and charged with multiple felonies.”
Holtorf is referring to Boebert’s son, Tyler, who was arrested and charged with 22 criminal counts, including five felonies, as police say he and his friends were caught using stolen credit cards in connection with a series of burglaries. vehicles in Rifle, Colorado.
He previously admitted that he understands why former President Donald Trump endorsed Boebert, but he believes Colorado voters want someone who doesn’t have as much personal drama.
“I still don’t think the electorate is going to accept it even though they are strong supporters of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate,” he said. “I don’t think that completely exonerates her from the rug wrapping and seat swapping.”
