July 26, 2012 10:35 PM UTC

Radio host makes one-time exception to letting Coffman off the hook on his birther comments

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• by: Jason Salzman

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

You may recall that Steve Kelley, host of KNUS radio’s morning drive-time show, got really pissed at Rep. Mike Coffman, after Coffman refused to appear on Kelley’s show and explain why, among other things, he felt the need to (sort of) apologize for saying Obama isn’t an American in his heart.

Coffman ignored Kelley’s interview requests, and eventually Kelley said he didn’t want Coffman on his show anymore, unless he answered questions about his birther moment and explained why he ducked Kelley. I explained all this in a previous blog post.

But Coffman was on Kelley’s show Friday, talking about the Aurora shootings.

I figured that, in light of the horror at the theater, Kelley had made a one-time exception to his promise not to let Coffman off the hook on his birther comments, and this turned out to be correct.

“I suspended it,” Kelley told me, regarding his Coffman ban.

“Bill, my sports guy, was angry with me. How could I back down? But 58 people had been wounded and 12 were dead. What am I going to do?

“When we’re talking politics again, there will be no conditions set. Period. No questions will be off limits. Not that any conditions were set this time. I could have ambushed him, but I didn’t think it would have been appropriate.”

Kelley obviously did the right thing here.

But I’m hoping Kelley, and any other media types who interview Coffman, insist on getting his personal cell phone number, so they can find him if he refuses to talk about topics that fall someday into Coffman’s  “I-stand-by-my-statement-that-I-misspoke-and-I-apologize” category.