July 23, 2018 01:27 PM UTC

AUDIO: Mitchell Urges Stapleton To "Run As Far Away From Donald Trump As Possible"

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• by: Jason Salzman

 (A bit late for that! – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

On a conservative radio show over the weekend, former Colorado lawmaker Victor Mitchell had this advice for Colorado Treasurer Walker Stapleton, who defeated Mitchell in June’s Republican primary for the right to take on Democrat Jared Polis in the Colorado governor’s race.

Mitchell: My advice to Walker, for whatever it’s worth, is to run as far away from Donald Trump as possible,” said Mitchell during a Saturday interview with KNUS host Craig Silverman. “I understand he’s gone all in for Donald Trump. He says he loves Trump. He supports him 100 percent, unequivocally. He voted for him. He’s all in for Trump. You know he’s all in with Tom Tancredo and others who are all in for Trump 100 percent, under any conditions, always Trumpers. And personally I think that’s not a smart strategy I think.

Since the GOP primary, Stapleton and Jeff Hays, the leader of Colorado’s Republican Party, have both expressed their desire for Trump to come to Colorado to campaign with Stapleton.

Stapleton said recently he’s “already been in touch with the White House” about Trump coming to Colorado for a visit, and Hays has said he’d “love to get on the president’s calendar.”

Mitchell finished second to Stapleton in the Republican primary for governor, gaining 30 percent of the vote to Stapleton’s 48 percent. 

Ironically, Mitchell thinks his own admission during the GOP primary that he did not vote for Trump “obviously hurt me in a bad way” among Colorado Republicans, who, he says, are overwhelmingly Trump lovers.

On the radio, the former Colorado state representative detailed his problems with Trump, starting with his belief that “whether we want to accept it or not as Republicans,” Trump is a “deeply flawed human being.”

During his KNUS interview, Mitchell methodically attacked Trump, saying he questions his character and judgement. He thinks Trump exaggerates and lies all the time, isn’t a deep thinker, and lacks intellectual curiosity and sufficient intellectual capabilities to make tough decisions. He criticized Trumps coziness with Putin and his behavior at the Helsinki summit.

“I want to see President Trump’s tax returns,” said Mitchell, expressing his concern that the Russians have some kind of extensive financial leverage over Trump. “This is extremely important.”

Mitchell says he will vote for Stapleton, and wishes him “nothing but the best,” but he doesn’t believe Stapleton’s campaign is currently headed in the right direction.

Listen to Mitchell on KNUS 710-AM Saturday, July 21: