July 12, 2022 12:41 PM UTC

O'Dea Not Following Jan. 6 Hearings, Doesn't Blame Trump

• 15 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

The Jan. 6 House committee hearings are again leading the national headlines. Today’s star witness is former White House Counsel Pat Cippolone, who described details of an “unhinged” Oval Office meeting on Dec. 18 that presaged former President Trump’s infamous Tweet later that night (early morning Dec. 19) calling on supporters to come to Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 for a rally that “will be wild.”

Testimony from this and previous Jan. 6 House committee hearings has painted an unequivocally-bad picture of Trump and key aides frantically looking for a way to overturn a legitimate election.

Nearly 60 percent of Americans say they are paying close attention to the hearings, but that number does NOT include Colorado Republican U.S. Senate nominee Joe O’Dea.

O’Dea was a guest on the “FOX News Rundown” podcast today and responded with a shrug when asked about the Jan. 6 hearings:

HOST: The Capitol riot hearings have been going on the last couple of weeks. Have you watched? Is it of concern to you, the things that are alleged of the former President’s conduct?

JOE O’DEA: Well, you know, I haven’t had time to watch any of that stuff. [Pols emphasis] I’ve had my head down here trying to run a campaign, trying to make sure we got across the finish line here [on June 28]. There’s a lot of things I agree with the former President on — I thought his policies were really good.

O’Dea has been busy recently, sure…but so have millions of other Americans who nonetheless found the time to follow along with an investigation into an attempted coup by the sitting President of the United States. Those Americans also aren’t running for U.S. Senate; this is a monumentally-important topic that O’Dea just brushes off as though he were asked if he had been keeping up with the latest season of “Stranger Things.”

Part of O’Dea’s indifference to the Jan. 6 hearings may come from the fact that he long ago decided that the insurrection wasn’t Donald Trump’s fault anyway. Here’s O’Dea responding to a question from CBS4 “reporter” Shaun Boyd about Jan. 6 during a June 20th candidate forum along with State Rep. Ron Hanks:

SHAUN BOYD: Is former President Trump to blame, at least in part, for the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol? Representative Hanks?

RON HANKS: No.

BOYD: Mr. O’Dea?

JOE O’DEA: Uh, no.

As The Colorado Sun reported on that moment (the Sun’s Jesse Paul was a co-host of this debate):

Both candidates said Trump does not deserve blame — even in part — for the events that unfolded on Jan. 6. 

It’s important to remember that O’Dea gave the same answer on this question as Hanks, a man who was literally present at the Jan. 6 insurrection. O’Dea and Hanks share a lot more than just the same wardrobe, apparently.

In the video above, O’Dea also goes on to say that he would support Trump in 2024 if he is again the Republican nominee for President. O’Dea doesn’t just think that Trump was not responsible for the Jan. 6 insurrection — he would vote for Trump again in 2024. Once again, these are Joe O’Dea’s own words bouncing back to smack him in the face.

If you want a U.S. Senator who doesn’t believe that Donald Trump is responsible for the insurrection, isn’t paying attention to the Jan. 6 committee hearings, AND would vote to return Trump to the Presidency in 2024, then you’ve found your guy in Joe O’Dea.