October 14, 2024 02:56 PM UTC

Gabe Evans: So Far to the Right He's Almost in Kansas

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• by: Colorado Pols

Republican Gabe Evans has been letting his right-wing freak flag fly in recent weeks as Election Day gets closer and he is forced to elaborate further regarding his positions on a number of important topics.

For example, his 111-word non-answer on the easiest political question imaginable: When is it okay to hit children in public schools? The correct answer, which eluded Evans, is “Never.”

Evans has also trying to explain his position on U.S. immigration policy, which has gained new attention in the wake of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s visit to (sorta) Aurora on Friday. The primary purpose of Trump’s Aurora visit was to scare voters into believing that Venezuelan gangs had killed and or raped everyone in Colorado because of permissive Democratic policies (ridiculous claims that Evans has embraced). Evans spoke to the gathered MAGA masses prior to Trump’s appearance, standing in front of a background that included messages such as, “End Migrant Crime,” and “Deport Illegals Now.” Congressperson Lauren Boebert also spread her message of hate for immigrants before Trump stepped onstage to verbalize his xenophobic wet dream with a proposal titled, “Operation Aurora.”

Evans has tried for months to present himself as a somewhat-reasonable conservative Republican. Yet the more he talks, the more MAGA he sounds.

In a candidate questionnaire for CO-08 published by The Denver Post, Evans listed his top policy priorities if elected to Congress:

1) Secure the southern border by adding agents, restoring the “remain in Mexico” policy, changing the rules of engagement so officers protect the border instead of just processing more migrants, and cracking down on the cartels and coyotes who profit from human and drug smuggling.

2) Restore law and order by fully funding and defending our law enforcement, holding career criminals accountable, and stopping the flow of poisonous fentanyl into the U.S.

These priorities would have largely been accomplished by a massive bipartisan immigration deal in Congress earlier this year — but that bill died when Trump publicly called on MAGA Republicans to oppose so that he could continue to talk about illegal immigration on the campaign trail. It is generally accepted as fact that the bipartisan border deal was killed in the Republican-led House of Representatives because Trump demanded as much; any attempt to shine this particular turd is utter nonsense.

Not that Evans hasn’t tried. Here’s what he went on to say in the Denver Post questionnaire:

Do you support the bipartisan border security compromise that stalled in Congress earlier this year? If not, what immigration reforms would you support?
The “bipartisan border” bill faced bipartisan opposition because it was too much about processing migrants into the country and not enough about securing the border. I would have voted no. [Pols emphasis] We know what works, and we can do this quickly in 2025: build more wall; add agents and immigration judges; restore “remain in Mexico”; change the rules of engagement so officers protect the border instead of just processing more migrants; and crack down on the cartels and coyotes who profit from human and drug smuggling. I will make stopping the flow of poisonous fentanyl into the U.S. a top priority. [Pols emphasis]

Evans flat-out says that he would have voted “NO” on the deal (incumbent Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo says she would have been a “YES”), but then listed off a number of proposals THAT WERE COVERED IN THE VERY SAME BILL HE SAID HE WOULD OPPOSE.

♦ More border patrol agents and immigration judges? That was included.

♦ Increased funding and new technologies for combatting the fentanyl trade? Yep.

♦ Raising the standard for asylum claims instead of “just processing more migrants”? It was in the bill.

Evans echoed these same nonsense arguments in last week’s 9News candidate debate:

Caraveo told co-moderator Marshall Zelinger that she would vote for that bill in the House of Representatives, prompting the same question for Evans.

ZELINGER: That [immigration reform] bill failed after Donald Trump told Republicans to oppose it…Mr. Evans, would you vote for that same bill as it was presented if you were a Member of Congress?

EVANS: So, what that bill did was require…er, allowed up to 5,000…

ZELINGER: Let’s start with, ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ Would you vote for that same bill?

EVANS: No. That bill had bipartisan opposition.

ZELINGER: Okay, what was it about that bill that had support from many Republicans that YOU oppose?

EVANS: That bill had bipartisan opposition…what it required was up to 5,000 folks per day to be allowed into the United States under an asylum claim. What that does is, uh, allow 1.8 million newcomers into our country every year through the asylum program. It does not actually work to solve the issues, and what it does is it takes the Border Patrol off of the border and moves them into an administrative role where they’re not actually securing the border — they’re filling out paperwork instead of protecting our country. We need more Border Patrol agents, but we need more Border Patrol agents actually on the border securing the physical boundaries of the United States.

ZELINGER: There was math that would have allowed the border to be closed for emergency reasons that wouldn’t have gotten anywhere near 1.8 million, but thank you for your point there.

What Evans has done in his statements on illegal immigration is to place himself firmly to the far right of the Republican Party, alongside the likes of Boebert and the much-maligned “Freedom Caucus.” Evans, Boebert, and Trump are as far to the right on this issue as you can get, representing an extreme position that prevents actual legislative reforms from taking place.

Evans supported killing a bill that could have passed into law — a bill that contained most of the things he complains about — so that he could join Boebert and Trump in screaming that nobody is working on illegal immigration. Evans might not be as loud or obnoxious as Boebert, but he absolutely represents the sort of pointless performative politics that she has perfected.

The real Gabe Evans is revealing himself to voters in the eighth congressional district just as they are receiving their ballots for the General Election. That’s good news for voters, but it’s not going to help his campaign for Congress.