April 21, 2015 12:30 PM UTC

All Is Forgiven, "Dr. Chaps"

• 10 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

In the aftermath of the horrific attack on a pregnant Longmont woman last month, Rep. Gordon “Dr. Chaps” Klingenschmitt said the crime was “the curse of God upon America” for allowing abortions. Klingenschmitt, no stranger to controversy as a frequent utterer of over-the-top claims about demon-possessed liberals and so forth, was hit with some of the harshest criticism yet–and was removed from his post on the House Health, Insurance and Environment Committee by his fellow Republicans. As Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso said on March 31st:

“I was very disturbed by Representative Klingenschmitt’s comments last week and want to reiterate that his comments do not represent our caucus and he does not speak for our caucus. As House Minority Leader my ability to discipline a member of our caucus is limited. Representative Klingenschmitt’s conduct warranted his removal from the committee,” House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso (R-Loveland) said in a statement.

Question: just how disturbing were these comments to Minority Leader DelGrosso, really?

Answer: about three weeks’ worth. The Colorado Springs Gazette’s Megan Schrader Tweets today:

. @savechaps was just restored to his committee after he was removed for his comments about the Longmont attack #coleg

— Megan Schrader (@CapitolSchrader) April 21, 2015

Because every legislator is required to serve on at least one committee, Rep. Klingenschmitt was only removed from the Health, Insurance, and Environment Committee, and retained his post on the Local Government Committee. But the outcry over Klingenschmitt’s comments about the attack on Michelle Wilkins in Longmont was quite broad, and his removal from the HIE committee by Minority Leader DelGrosso was in response to an avalanche of phone calls and emails from the public.

We have to wonder how the public will take the news of his reinstatement only three weeks later–assuming they hear about it at all.