Colorado Democrat Senate candidate John Hickenlooper talked about the death of George Floyd during a local debate on Wednesday night, and appeared claim that Floyd was killed in a “shooting.”
“The pandemic created a moment where, when the shooting of George Floyd took place, everyone was in their living room,” Hickenlooper said during the debate. “Everyone saw it and it was a catalyst to action.”
A review of the moments immediately following Hickenlooper’s comments show that Hickenlooper did not correct himself and was not immediately corrected by left-wing CBS News reporter Shaun Boyd based on news clips that circulated on.
Seattle-based conservative radio host Jason Rantz tweeted: “Colorado Democrat Senate candidate John Hickenlooper thinks that George Floyd was killed in ‘a shooting,’ which is not true, as literally the entire country saw his neck being knelt on.”
WATCH:
Colorado Democrat Senate candidate John Hickenlooper thinks that George Floyd was killed in “a shooting,” which is not true, as literally the entire country saw his neck being knelt on
Why didn't @CBS4Shaun push back? Bias? pic.twitter.com/cSDl0VF3Yd
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 11, 2020
Hickenlooper, who is the state’s former governor, has been embroiled in an ethics scandal that involved accepting gifts while he was governor.
The Colorado Sun reported this week:
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper violated state law when he took a flight aboard a corporate jet owned by a top political donor and accepted transportation in a Maserati limousine at a conference in Italy, an ethics panel ruled Friday.
Three other private flights aboard company planes owned by friends did not violate the state’s constitutional ban on public officials receiving gifts. The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission rejected those elements of the complaint after deciding that the travel fit an exemption in the law because it was a gift from a friend or a benefit to the state.
The verdict in the case — the state’s most high-profile ethics trial since voters approved the ban in 2006 — came after a two-day hearing that started dramatically with Hickenlooper refusing to testify and being held in contempt. The commission delayed a decision about potential sanctions for the ethics violations and the contempt charge to June 12, but he faces a fine that amounts to double the benefits he received.
Bill Leone, a member of the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission and a former U.S. attorney, said, “If we allow this kind of special privately financed treatment for elected officials, it just accentuates the cynicism in the public that led to Amendment 41.”
Hickenlooper jumped into the Colorado Senate race after he tried to run for president and failed after getting little to no traction on the national stage.
Later in the debate when asked if he supported reparations for African-Americans and Native-Americans, Hickenlooper responded by saying, “Yes. I think we got to make those investments into education and housing and healthcare that give, that bring equality under the law and under life to all Coloradans.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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