Colorado GOP leader whines women could bring #MeToo to his 'own backyard'

The head of the Colorado Republican Party has warned voters that if Democrats, and specifically Democratic women, succeed in taking control of the Colorado Senate in November, they could unleash a #MeToo witch hunt in the General Assembly.

The scare tactic was unfurled as the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings were unfolding in Washington, D.C.

“If your listeners don’t like what’s going on and they don’t like the Democrat behavior at the U.S. Senate, then they shouldn’t like it at the state Senate, either,” the GOP’s state chairman, Jeff Hays, recently announced on a local radio show.

“And if we don’t get out the vote — and if we don’t turn in our ballots and vote for Republicans, then we’re going to get more the same. But it’s going to be right in our own backyard,” the Colorado Times Recorder reported.

Like Republican leaders in Washington, D.C., the head of the Colorado party belittled the idea of women coming forward with claims of sexual assault.

“You know, people lie all the time. I get lied to every day in this business,” Hays stressed. “I get lied to by women. I get lied to by men. There’s no sanctimony in having that extra X chromosome. So, we’ve seen this play out.”

The wild, gender-based attack comes as Republicans in Colorado are trying to fend off a blue wave and to maintain their one-seat margin in the Senate.

Hays’ denigrating rhetoric is especially startling considering five Democratic women are running in five toss-up races that will likely decide the Senate outcome in November.

The reckless attack also comes after the Colorado General Assembly already struggled through its own #MeToo scandal, during which Republicans were accused of protecting their own after members were accused of sexual misconduct.

Amidst that controversy, five legislators were hit with claims of sexual harassment. Democrats in the House voted to expel one Democratic colleague. But in the Senate, Republicans moved to protect their own by suppressing the investigation.

“In the Republican-controlled Colorado Senate, there was a very different result,” Colorado Pols reported. “Credible and thoroughly investigated allegations of harassment against Republican Senators were systematically downplayed by the GOP leadership of the chamber.”

Then last month, when sexual assault allegations were first raised against Kavanaugh, members of the Colorado GOP leadership went onto Facebook to mock the claims.

Colorado Republicans this year are sending a very consistent message to voters: They don’t have to listen to what women say.