In this episode of Rush to Reason, guest host Andy Peth engages in a dynamic discussion with Eli Bremer and Olympic bobsledder Kaylee Humphries. The conversation traverses the realms of sports, personal conviction, and political expression, bringing to light the challenges and triumphs in both public and private arenas. Eli shares his insights on the political landscape in Colorado, while Kaylee recounts her inspiring journey from Canadian athlete to American Olympian, emphasizing the pride and responsibility of representing a nation.
SPEAKER 13 :
This is Rush to Reason. You are going to shut your damn yapper and listen for a change because I got you pegged, sweetheart. You want to take the easy way out because you’re scared. And you’re scared because if you try and fail, there’s only you to blame. Let me break this down for you. Life is scary. Get used to it. There are no magical fixes. With your host, John Rush.
SPEAKER 15 :
My advice to you is to do what your parents did. Get a job, sir. You haven’t made everybody equal. You’ve made them the same, and there’s a big difference.
SPEAKER 07 :
Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.
SPEAKER 14 :
Are you crazy? Am I? Or am I so sane that you just blew your mind? It’s Rush to Reason with your host, John Rush, presented by Cub Creek Heating and Air Conditioning.
SPEAKER 02 :
Filling in is Andy Pate, party of choice.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome to our number three here on Rush to Reason. I’m Andy Pate, filling in for John Rush. And on the line right now, we have the evil one. That’s right. We have Eli Bremmer, and I call him Darth Bremmer, because as we all know, he’s the most evil man in Colorado politics. Is this true, Eli?
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, I mean, if you say so, Andy, it’s got to be true. Never, never would I expect you to mislead people.
SPEAKER 03 :
Just ask any Davidian and they will say the most evil person alive. And folks, for all for all, if you’re wondering, why do I always say this about Eli? It’s because I’m kidding, of course. But I’ll tell you something. The people who have caused the most trouble, and John Rush talks about them all the time, the people who have really been the downfall of our party here in Colorado, and we’re going to get away from politics here for a bit, but first, the reason that they can’t stand Eli Bremer is because he makes more sense than anybody I’ve heard talk about politics here in Colorado, and you really do, Eli. When you talk, you make sense, and you come across as the least hateful person I know.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, maybe I don’t have a place in the Colorado Republican Party then, Andy. Maybe I need to reconsider.
SPEAKER 03 :
I know you got to work on that. Hey, Eli, now I’m really excited about the story that we’re going to have in the next segment. And it is with somebody who has actually awarded a medal to Donald Trump. And it’s an Olympian. But I want you to talk about how you became an Olympian and how you came to know this person.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I competed a long time ago. I like to say it, a long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. I was in the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing, China. And I’ve been involved with the Olympics ever since. I grew up just adoring the Olympics. I liked watching. You know, the heroes of my kids competing and or my childhood competing. And and I love the the national pride that it brings about. And so, you know, I really enjoy competing in the Olympics. And then I was asked to go out to this most recent Olympics in Cortina. And I know a lot of a lot of folks listening probably follow me on social media. So I got to go out there and I was working to promote two Air Force Olympians who were competing there. And so I packed up my bags with my wife and son and we we had a little family trip out there. And it was you know, it was just an incredible experience because I love there. There are a few things, Andy, I like more in this world than hearing people chant USA, USA, USA. It’s awesome. Oh, it’s it’s 10 times anything you’ll ever experience at a professional football game, at a college football game. It’s it’s just something else. and really to get to go out there and promote a couple of great women who have joined the Air Force and are wearing true uniforms. They’re wearing their Air Force uniform and the Olympic uniform. I’m not going to lie. It was a blast to get to promote such a great cause and to tell that story. And one of the stories was Jasmine Jones, who is a pusher for a bobsled, And we were working on public relations on that event. And she got paired up with Kaylee Humphries. And they won a bronze medal the last night of the Olympics. I was there. I was standing with their families when they won. Just an incredible moment. She’s the first airman to ever win a medal at the Winter Olympics. That’s awesome. But backing up a few weeks or a little bit before that, I was really excited that she got paired with Kaylee because I got to know Kaylee about five years ago. She reached out to me through a teammate because she was a Canadian but wanted to compete for the U.S. And she was trying to legally immigrate. And a teammate of hers said, hey, reach out to Eli. He knows some folks in the government might be able to help. So I started helping her out. And I love this story. I don’t think I’ve told this very many times. But we get partway, you know, I said, look, I’m happy to introduce you to some some folks I know who would probably help the emigrate. But I got to ask a question. If you come immigrate and join the United States, are you going to stand for a flag if you win a medal or are you going to kneel? And she said, Eli, I’ll never forget that. She said, Eli, if I become an American citizen and I win a gold medal for my new country, I will stand on that podium at the top of the podium and belting out the national anthem at the top of my lungs with tears streaming down my eyes because I could not be more proud to be an American. And I said, that’s great. We didn’t talk politics or anything. I just said, I’d love to have you be an American. And Kaylee worked real hard, got her citizenship. And a couple months later, she did stand on the podium and she did have tears streaming down her face when she won that gold medal for her new home country. So anyway, she was the driver for Jasmine Jones and great story out of the Olympics.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, Eli, there are so many of the young Olympians that we’ve heard of or, you know, some of those who are very anti-American and who rip on this country. And maybe it’s because of Trump. Maybe it’s just because, you know, they’re angry at the country for whatever reason. I wish they could understand the greatness of the nation that they are representing. And so when I hear about Kaylee, when I hear about and is the other one Jasmine, did you say?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yeah, Jasmine Jones.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right. When I hear about these incredible stories of people like this and how proud they are of our nation, that just fills me with pride because they should be. And it doesn’t matter if there’s a Republican or a Democrat in the White House. America is America is America is America. Be proud of it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and you saw that at the end of the Olympics where you had that great moment where Team USA won the hockey game. Right. And I was on my flight home from the Olympics, so I’m getting text messages. People tell me it’s going. You know, I’m just like, oh, man, I wish I could watch this. But reportedly around 35 million people watched that. It was the largest morning time live sporting event in history. And people, I think, are craving this story. I think Americans do love their country. They do respect our country. And that’s why the men’s hockey team was such a such an incredible story. And that’s why Kaylee Humphries has become an incredible story, because Americans want Americans who support America representing them. I mean, how crazy is that? So I think a lot of people have seen the story with Kaylee and she contacted me literally on the flight home from the Olympics and said, I’m proud of being American. I, you know, I did support President Trump, but she wasn’t playing political about it and said, I would love to go to the White House. And and so that’s the that’s the story that we get to sort of help tell on your show today.
SPEAKER 03 :
OK, well, after the break, we are going to talk to Kaylee Humphries. I can’t believe this. I’m very excited about it. First, let’s take a break. Up next is Flesh Law. Kevin Flesh, that’s F-L-E-S-C-H. He’s the lawyer your opponent doesn’t want to face. Call Flesch Law at 303-806-8886.
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SPEAKER 05 :
Putting reason into your afternoon drive, this is John Rush.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560, Andy Pate filling in for John Rush. On the line, we got Eli Bremer, and we are now joined by Olympic legend, and that is Kaylee Humphries, women’s bobsled. And Kaylee, I just can’t tell you what an honor it is to have you here today. Yeah, thank you for having me on. I really appreciate it. Oh, you bet. Thanks for coming on. Now, Kaylee, just so you know, I’m a movie buff, and I didn’t know they had bobsledding outside Jamaica.
SPEAKER 11 :
A lot of people don’t. We do. Yeah. The U.S. is actually very strong in women’s bobsled. We’re the only country in the entire world to win a medal at every single Olympic Games since women’s bobsled started in 2002.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, that is fantastic. Really quick here. Now, you grew up in Canada, is that correct? I did, yes. Calgary, Alberta. Okay. Why bobsledding? What got you into it?
SPEAKER 11 :
So for me, I actually am a product of an Olympic legacy. So we had a bobsled track where I grew up in Calgary with the 88 Olympics, which is the Cool Runnings Olympics. And so I got to grow up knowing about the sport, seeing the bobsled track. And for me, the Olympics was always a dream and a goal. And so as I grew up playing all different kinds of sports, I wanted to try bobsled and see if I’d be good at it. Turns out I’m good at it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you’re very good at it, Kaylee. And are you like, I just got to ask you, are you like hooked on the speed? Because I have never seen that kind of raw, terrifying speed unless my wife is driving, then maybe. But I just watching you guys go down that thing, it is unbelievable. I mean, the first time you did it, was it just terrifying or did you just get psyched on it?
SPEAKER 11 :
No, I definitely, I enjoy it. There’s something about the thrill, the excitement. For me, a big part of it as well, we travel anywhere from 80 to 100 miles an hour depending on which bobsled track we’re at. But for me, it’s the challenge, the skill aspect of driving that sled, navigating those turns at the high speed. It just, it’s a thrill for me and I really do love what I do.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh my gosh, the precision, the hand-eye coordination that you have to have just to make those churns. And they’re just so lightning fast. It’s just terrifying. I don’t know how you do it. But really quick here, I want Eli to jump in because Eli is here and I don’t want to keep him out. Eli, ask her some questions.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, yeah. So, Kaylee, right before the break, I was explaining that you got teamed up with Jasmine Jones. So what was that like? I mean, you had an airman. She’s the first. I mean, you have a decorated career now, obviously the most decorated women’s bobsledder in history. But you and I talked ahead of the Olympics about it. But what did that mean to get paired up with a member of the U.S. military at the Olympics?
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s such a huge honor to be able to compete for your country and to do it alongside, you know, a female athlete like Jasmine. It really was. She’s who I’ve wanted to race with the entire season. And I’ve really seen Jasmine grow over this last four years within this sport. As a female athlete, she really put everything she had forward into it. And she does that with everything she does in representing her country to the best of her ability. And when you get paired up with somebody who you know is giving it everything they have, to be the best version of themselves. It’s very empowering and inspiring. So for me to be with somebody like Jasmine, who’s going to put it all on the line, I had so much faith and trust in her. And I know she had that same faith and trust in me. And so together we were able to achieve something that’s never happened before, which two moms together on the Olympic podium for the first time in women’s bobsled teamed up together. It really was a historic special moment. And I couldn’t have picked a better teammate in person to do that with.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you sure made us proud, Kaylee. Really quick here, what was it like, just taking a step away from bobsledding for a moment, since you’re obviously proud of your former country, Canada, and you’re proud of your new country where you came to, America, what was it like having the two face each other in the hockey match?
SPEAKER 11 :
hockey game it’s always a tough question yeah um you know i i try and remain switzerland in those scenarios the same thing happens in baseball and uh i know a lot of other things i’ve got teammates and friends that are on team canada but teammates and friends on the united states i just love watching high performance sport especially on the women’s side to be able to watch you know the women go out there do their best work and may the best men win You know, it’s really cool to to be a part of and see. So in those scenarios, I just look for the best hockey game humanly possible and we go from there.
SPEAKER 03 :
OK, well, Kaylee, you’re not really a super political person. That means you’re good. Okay, that means you’re a good person. Now, me and Eli, we’re evil people. We jump out from behind trees at unsuspecting voters, which, by the way, is going to be an Olympic sport soon. I’m very excited about it. What is it like for you to suddenly get a taste of politics? Because I know that’s not what you were thinking when you presented your Order of Itkos medal. Is that how you pronounce it, Itkos? Ecos. Ecos. I’m sorry. I got it wrong. No, it’s okay. You’re good. I’m from Wisconsin. Just so you know, we’ve never pronounced any word right ever until we’re like 18. It takes a minute.
SPEAKER 11 :
I didn’t pronounce it right either the first time. And what you read is not how you pronounce it really and what it shows. So I totally understand.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, if you could do me a favor here and for all our listeners, could you explain what this medal was for? You know, what the Order of Ecos is all about and what led you to this decision with Donald Trump?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah. So for me, every Olympic athlete. a part of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic team. When you win an Olympic or Paralympic medal, you have the ability to hand off a separate, and I will state this again, a separate medal. I did not give him one of my own. A separate medal in honor of somebody who is you know, encouraged you or has made a meaningful impact or contribution to your journey to the podium. So for every Olympic medal you get or Paralympic medal, you can hand off another one to say thank you for being a part of my journey. And for me, having the opportunity to win two Olympic medals at this last Olympics, I had two order of ECOS medals that I can hand out. And when… I knew I got invited to the White House when it was about Women’s History Month. I’m very passionate about women’s opportunities within sports. Personally, becoming a mom a year and a half ago and going through the IDF journey to do it, I’ve been very inspired by this administration and by President Trump being able to you know, lower costs of IVF medications and really take a stand and help, you know, American families that are going through infertility. And so for me, being able to honor him in a way, alongside him honoring me, it just felt like the right moment and the right time just to say thank you for doing something that no one else has done, which is standing up for women’s sports, standing up for, you know, help within the reproductive space for women to keep having, you know, families. And so the biggest honor I can achieve and the biggest honor I can pass off to somebody is this order of ECOS. And I just wanted to say thank you. You know, he invited me to the White House and, you I was raised to bring a gift when that’s the case. And so for me, it was, yeah, it was a big honor to be able to just say thank you for all he’s done for women’s sports and the IVF movement moving forward.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you know, I know you were honored being at the White House, but he was twice as honored having you there. I’m sure he was. And I see the picture of the two of you next to each other. He is just beaming. He is so excited knowing what you’ve achieved. But let me ask you this. Has it been difficult at all? I know that he’s a very polarizing character and obviously I’m a big supporter of his, but have you had any backlash?
SPEAKER 11 :
Definitely. I actually just got uninvited to do an event in New York City today because of it. So it’s okay. I’m very, and I was very aware that when I made the decision to come out and state my support and the fact that I voted for him, that there was going to be a backlash. Not everyone loves him. It’s, you know, 50-50. And so I am very aware that, you know, everyone has their personal opinions. of him specifically as a person, and then as well as with politics. And so I’m going to continue to live my life and believe in the things I believe in to back the people that I support, that support me, and believe in the same things I do. And I’m going to get hate for it, especially, like you said, in the political climate and world that exists. And you really got two choices, 50-50. You are going to love or hate. And so, yes, I’m achieving… I’ve got a lot of support. I’ve got equally as much hate on both sides. But at the end of the day, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions. And I’m going to continue to be with like-minded people and be around people that I support. And I think for me, within my career, I’ve had backlash throughout my entire career. When I left Team Canada and came to Team USA, I’m pretty sure I have half of a country that is real mad, even to this day. uh, because of that decision. And, um, you know, every time I was pushing for the advancement of greater opportunities for women within the bobsled world, it was met with backlash on the men’s side, because what does that take away from one party to add to another and how does that work? So I think anytime you go outside of what is seen like the normal, or you push for something different or change it, it can potentially be polarizing. So it’s not, uh, Yeah, it’s not a foreign concept to me, but I will continue to stand up for what I believe is right and try and make the world a better place.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, you are making the world a better place, Kaylee. But I want to ask you this in a different way, you see, because you work in a bobsled. OK, and you’ve got a team of people there who have to be. And these are people who have different political beliefs, some Democrats, some Republican people. They’re different in everything. Some like Pepsi, some like Coke, okay? I mean, you’ve got differences throughout your entire lives, and yet you’ve got to go onto that unit and be precision and perfectly aligned, perfectly in tune, a perfect team going forward to win together. And what’s it like for you to have to do that together with people who are so different and then step out of it and see a country that is so divided? So not together. So not willing to be that. You know what I mean? That aligned and that willing to fight together to go together to win.
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, I think it’s important to note that, you know, sport has the ability to overcome. And within sport, as long as and something that our team is pretty unified in is performance. success and representing your country. And I think we can all agree in within the bobsled space that regardless of your political views, and we definitely have people that are on the left and on the right, you know, performance comes first. And at the end of the day, representing your country and wearing the United States flag means more than personal or individual beliefs. And so for us, Wearing that flag, being able to represent the United States, that’s something we can all agree on is a huge honor. And we’re lucky to be in this position and to have this be our career. We get to chase our goals and dreams and represent the United States doing it. And we’re going to do that to the best of our ability. because of the position that we’re in. And so as long as we continue to remind each other that, you know, we’re individuals, our journeys to the Olympics are different, and we’re at very different stages in our lives. And that’s okay. You know, we don’t all have to be the same or think the same or be alike. You know, we can be individual in our thoughts, beliefs, feelings. But at the end of the day, what is the same and what unifies us is being able to wear that flag and represent the U.S. And we’re going to do that to the best of our ability because we owe that to our country. We owe that to our staff that are dedicating their time and energy and that are allowing us the opportunity to do this.
SPEAKER 03 :
You know, Kaylee, it’s great that you owe that to our country, but let me tell you something. Our country owes a debt of gratitude to you and the other members of your team who, once again, come from so many divided backgrounds and work together. I would hope that we would learn a lesson from you. How about you, Eli?
SPEAKER 04 :
Andy, this is what I love about the Olympics. And what Kaylee just said should be the most remarkably uncontroversial thing out there. And what’s amazing is she’s been all over the media since coming home from the Olympics for taking this very common sense position that it’s okay to disagree on politics. We should all love our country. We should want what’s best for our country. We should all root for Team USA. So, you know, that’s, you know, it’s inspired me. I’ve been very fortunate to have kind of a front row seat to this. And I think I look forward to seeing great things out of Kaylee going forward because she’s been remarkable on the ice, sliding down the ice, and I think she’ll have some remarkable things happening in her career going forward because I don’t think she’s done yet.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, and Kaylee Humphreys, once again, thanks for joining us today. It’s been incredible. Olympic bobsled legend and champion Kaylee Humphreys. Kaylee, before you leave, is there any way that people can keep up on your latest things and what you’re doing and read about you?
SPEAKER 11 :
Yeah, definitely. Through social media is going to be the best way. So whether it’s on Instagram, Kaylee Humphries, or on Twitter, at bobsledkaylee, that’s going to be the most up-to-date info on me that I try and do my best and post as much as possible, but that’ll have the most up-to-date info.
SPEAKER 03 :
Help them out. Spell your first name. K-A-I-L-L-I-E. Kaylee Humphries. Kaylee, thanks for joining us today. It’s been wonderful. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. Thank you, Eli. Okay, have a good day. Okay, and I will be right back with Eli Bremer. We’re going to talk a little Colorado politics, as we are known to do. Up next is Roof Savers. The clock is ticking and your roof could start leaking at any time. Don’t wait. Get it checked out now with Dave Hart at Roof Savers. Call Dave at 303-710-6916.
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SPEAKER 10 :
Stay up to date with Rush to Reason after the show on Twitter at Rush to Reason.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560, Andy Pate filling in for John Rush. On the line right now, we’ve got Eli Bremer, Darth Bremer. as I like to call him. Eli, the Colorado Republican Party, its leader, has stepped down. That is, of course, Britta Horne. She’ll be stepping aside shortly. And new leadership will be elected. Now, it is very clear that the state central committee has now been overwhelmed by what I would call Davidians. You can call them rhino watchers. You can just call them you know, I don’t know what you want to call them, but it seems very clear that the party is about to take a very decidedly different direction.
SPEAKER 04 :
Oh, I think that’s absolutely true. The real question is not, will that happen? It’s how much damage can they inflict? And it’s, you know, it’s sad to me, Andy, because, you know, here we come off of my favorite topic, which is Olympic sports. We get to now talk about my second favorite topic, which is politics. Right. And And Kaylee has such a great message that, again, Americans can all get together and cheer for Team USA. What we have inside the Republican establishment, this Davidian wing of the establishment, are people who actually hate other Republicans more than they despise horrible Democrat policy.
SPEAKER 03 :
Okay, now wait a second. Before you run on, before you run on, there are people who hear you say that and they think you’re lying. They think you’re name-calling. They think you’re making empty accusations. this isn’t, this is actually not true. I mean, we’re literally talking about people who have run Democrat ads against Republican candidates. We’re talking about people who have partnered with the left in a lot of things to do a lot of damage to Republicans. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, and let’s remember the roots of these people go back to 2016. These were the never Trumpers, right? They’re the, they have a purity test and you know, it’s, I’m a Christian, as you know, and going back to biblical times when Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, Jesus, these people are casting out demons and doing good works in your name. And we told them to stop. And Jesus is like, what the heck? That’s Eli’s paraphrasing. He said, what the heck? They’re doing good stuff. They’re on our side. Why are you upset? And there’s a wing, the Republican establishment here in Colorado, the Davidians are the Republican establishment. They honestly believe that the problem is we have Republicans that they don’t like and that they can’t control. So they were anti-Donald Trump. they go out there and they attack Republican elected officials in tough districts. I mean, look at Gabe Evans, the 8th Congressional District, you know, one of the most important in the country. If you want Mike Johnson to be the Speaker of the House, If you want Donald Trump to have a Republican majority, we have to win CD8. But in their mind, what’s more, they’re okay losing CD8 and having Hakeem Jeffries.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, Eli, really quick here. Really quick here. They endorsed a candidate there against him. And was that Yannick or Yannick?
SPEAKER 04 :
Yannick Joshi.
SPEAKER 03 :
Joshi, okay.
SPEAKER 04 :
They spent… And they spent national party resources that have been sent down here to go after the candidate that clearly was the only one to win that race. Right.
SPEAKER 03 :
Joshi would have lost that race big time. And by the way, I got nothing against Yannick Joshi. I’m just saying he wouldn’t have sold. He would have lost. That was an incredibly hard district to win. Evans won it by less than 1%. Joshi would have lost that thing by, I think, upwards of 8% to 10%. I think that’s about right.
SPEAKER 04 :
And so what you’re really dealing with here are people who say the problem with America is we have bad Republicans. Well, let me tell you something right now. Okay, we’ve got the SAVE Act that’s going through the Senate. If we had a few more Senate seats, we’d probably be able to get that thing through. It’s looking pretty dicey right now. Lisa Murkowski, who I really don’t have a lot of love lost for in the Senate, was the only Republican that voted against it. But the problem is not the Republicans, it’s the Democrats. In the State House and the State Senate, we’re almost a micro minority for Republicans. And so you have this entire sort of the Republican establishment here
SPEAKER 03 :
basically says we’re okay with being a micro minority and handing democrats unbridled control of the state as long as our people win the primaries and we get all the money um okay now for those who don’t for those who don’t understand the mechanics of this why is that okay what is the system they want in place the davidians and folks just so you know we’re not doing name calling here Davidian simply means supporters of Dave Williams, followers of Dave Williams. And it’s a lot shorter than saying the Rhino Watch supporters of Dave Williams who want the opt-out at all costs. I mean, that’s too long. That’s why we call them Davidians.
SPEAKER 04 :
Okay, go ahead. And so… And the shortcut here is that their goal, and again, they’re very open about this. Oh, yes. Their goal is to cancel the primaries.
SPEAKER 03 :
A lot of people believe, though, that what they’re really going to get us is that closed primary. Because their supporters literally say, close the primary, close the primary. Is that possible, Eli?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I mean, you know, if you believe Barack Obama that you can keep your doctor if you want to keep your doctor, then yes. Then yes. If you’re that gullible, yes, you can. You can have a closed primary. They’re both equally valid. So. But they’re selling a lie. And the reason they’re selling the lie is that they don’t believe they can win. They’re not trying to advance the conservative agenda. This is all about their own position. And this is what sort of the true establishment does. This is why they were anti-Trump. And it’s all facilitated by the caucus system here.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah. And by the way, this goes back to people keep wondering, why do you keep bringing up Dave Williams? Here’s why, folks. It goes back to him. Dave Williams needs the candidates to be chosen at assembly, not in a primary. At assembly, Dave Williams won for CD5. He was going to be our candidate. He then lost to, who was it, Jeff? Jeff Crank. Jeff Crank. I mix up the Jeffs, okay, for CD3, CD5. But he then lost to Jeff Crank by over 30 points. Most Republicans didn’t want him anywhere near that nomination. But if we didn’t have a primary, Jeff Crank would be out, and Dave Williams would have been our candidate in CD5. This is what he wants. This is what they want. They want their people to be our candidates. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
And let me be explicitly clear why they want that system. If you believe in election integrity, if you believe that elections should be run transparently, with honesty, with integrity, then you cannot support the caucus system. The amount of fraud and corruption in the caucus system is utterly insane. Four years ago, I’ll give a prime example. Four years ago, my wife was a candidate for county commissioner. She was running for reelection. She went to 27 precinct caucus locations on caucus night. 13 of them had no one show up. And yet all of them magically elected delegates in El Paso County, which is contrary to state law. The estimate we had that year, I was a candidate for U.S. Senate. The El Paso County delegation was estimated to have one third of all of the delegates were placed illegally. They hadn’t actually gotten elected. They had been anointed by a corrupt party chair.
SPEAKER 03 :
All right. Really quick here. So people imagine for a moment if one third of all the voters in a primary were replaced, were placed illegally. That’s what the equivalent is. Go ahead.
SPEAKER 04 :
And so what would happen if we canceled the primary as not some grassroots system? It’s that the Republican establishment, the corrupt Republican establishment, the party bosses who have destroyed the Colorado Republican system would simply select the delegates. Right. And the delegates would choose whoever. They wanted to put in. We’ve seen the system function before. This is how it works in Russia and the Soviet Union. It’s how it worked in China. That’s the system you would have. So you would have no choice. You would not be able to influence the system. They would be able to place whoever is in. And you don’t have to take my word for it because that’s what they’ve done when they’ve been in power. They’ve rigged the elections. They do not stand for election integrity. They’ve rigged the elections to try to put their own people in. Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yes. And by the way, there are three candidates who won in CD3, CD5, CD8. Jeff Crank, Jeff Hurd, Gabe Evans. They wanted all of them not to be the candidates. So, folks, if they get their way and get rid of the primary, those three are gone.
SPEAKER 04 :
So let’s be really clear here, Andy. The result of the caucus most closely aligns with the interests of the Democrat Party. Oh, yeah. You don’t have to take my word for it because the Democrats routinely fund the people that the corrupt Davidian establishment puts forward in the caucus system. You look at Ron Hanks, who ran against Jeff Hurd. He’s a total quack. I ran against him in the Senate. And, you know, the guy… It was cringy being on stage with him because of the lies that would come out of his mouth. The Democrats put millions of dollars behind him. They did. He’s not a grassroots candidate. I saw the ads. He is the president of the Democrats. Yep. And Hope Shuffelman did too. She was promoting them. So that’s what this is about. It’s about a failed system. And if you want to know why Colorado… is facing a governance problem. If you want to know why we’re leaning farther and farther left, when you look around and see your neighbors aren’t that way, it’s that we have a systemic problem. And this problem cannot be fixed with different people Much like I like to say socialism, the problem is not that socialism hasn’t been tried by the right people yet. The problem is that socialism is an inherently bad governance model, and the caucus system here is inherently bad. And it’s led us to a point where we have Democrats in control of a state that’s actually a purple state.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, I mean, here’s the bottom line, folks. It’s just numbers. It’s very simple. Less than 1%, well under 1% of Colorado Republicans go to caucus. Why? It is a very unenjoyable thing to go through. Okay? It’s a lot of hoops. And basically it’s demeaning, too, because you’re campaigning there for the right to be able to cast a vote. I shouldn’t have to campaign for the right to cast a vote for a candidate. But that’s exactly what you’re doing in caucus. You’re campaigning to be able to go to assembly as a representative so you can vote on who the candidates are. All right. In a primary, everybody just gets to vote. on the candidate.
SPEAKER 04 :
Andy, to also be clear, this process 25, 30 years ago was markedly different. Yes. You would go to an assembly, people were debating ideas, the candidates would give speeches. Now it’s a cesspool. If you want to see a place where you see the most profane language, people poorly dressed, poorly groomed, yelling and screaming at each other, and what’s happened is the normal people, the people listening to this show, would walk in the door and they say, this is disgusting. And they walk out. And they walk right out. And so it has reinforced it that the people who writ large have been able to take over the caucus system are the ones that walk in there, they’re using the foul language, they’re yelling and screaming. We’ve had numerous cases and it’s growing a physical violence of people coming in and starting fistfights. These are cesspools. It is not a way to govern. It’s not a way for Republicans who are about good governance to pick our candidates. It’s a way for bad people to push bad ideas and bad candidates.
SPEAKER 03 :
Right, and the bottom line is this, because it’s such a small group of people, it’s not like primary is everybody, okay, in the entire state. Right. It’s all Republicans. And in our state, it’s an open primary. So unaffiliated, too. I would prefer closed. But opting out, you don’t get a closed primary. You get no primary. OK, the caucus system, when you’ve got such a small group of people. a very well-oiled group of activists, motivated, mobilized group of activists like the Davidians can overrun that small group of people statewide. And that’s what they’ve done. And so they have been militant In placing people in precinct after precinct after precinct after district after district after district across the state, they have seized about 60% of the state central committee. They are now in full control. And by the way, folks, Brett Ahorn never was. She was losing control before she ever went in, and then she got undermined by her own people who collaborated with them. All right? This is a bad system. It has to go. Now, after the break, Eli, I want to ask you this. Okay, then what? Okay, so if we didn’t have the caucus, does that mean the grassroots would be shut out? Does that mean that these good people who want to be involved would be silenced? Does that mean Republicans could no longer be part of the process and all the good Republicans out there wouldn’t be able to support Trump or anybody else ever again? Would they all be shut out? Can you answer that after the break?
SPEAKER 04 :
Absolutely. Looking forward to it.
SPEAKER 03 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
It’s time to leave your safe space. This is Rush to Reason on KLZ 560.
SPEAKER 03 :
And welcome back to Rush to Reason, Denver’s Afternoon Rush, KLZ 560, Andy Paik filling in for John Rush, along with Eli Bremmer. Eli, okay, once again, I guarantee you right now there are a bunch of grassroots people out there, okay, the Tea Partiers, the Liberty people, okay? And they think that if you get rid of caucus, they will be silenced, they will be shut out, and only a bunch of rich, wealthy insiders, connected people, will have a voice. What’s the truth?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, it’s exactly the opposite of this. What they don’t realize is that everybody’s been shut out right now by this system. It’s the same lie, Andy, of socialism saying, we’re just going to redistribute the wealth, or as Mondani says, we’re going to wrap ourselves in the warmth of collectivism and get away from the chill of capitalism. It’s a failed system. And you can look no further than 49 other states who do it differently. So if you look around at other states, Pick a state that has better elected officials writ large than we do, okay? Not picking on anyone in general, but like, I don’t know, Florida. They’ve got a Republican governor. Texas has a Republican governor. I mean, there’s a lot of states that have great Republicans.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, surely they must be all caucus states.
SPEAKER 04 :
Actually, you know what’s really interesting, Andy, is pretty much there’s no other state that does it this way. The vast majority of states have a very small what’s called ballot access hurdle. Colorado’s ballot access hurdle is effectively the largest in the country. And if you think about it, why shouldn’t we allow people who want to run for office to run for office? And the answer is you don’t want 500 people on the ballot. The reality of it is, because of the incentives of it, that it’s this quirky, bizarre system. There’s sort of an any given Sunday, you know, anyone can win. I mean, Daryl Glenn in 2016 wasn’t really even running a campaign, gave a good speech, and then all of a sudden became a Republican nominee for Senate and then still didn’t run a good campaign. And so it sort of incentivizes that behavior to not run a good campaign. When I got thrown off the ballot in 2022, the National Party had polling that had me pretty much right within the margin. You mean for the general? Yeah, actually, the important one. They were like, wait a second. Wait a second. You could have potentially won this. I got a call from my friend Jim Banks, who was a congressman at the time and is now a senator from Indiana. And Jim said, Eli, how the heck did you not make the ballot? And I said, well, Jim, how do you make the ballot in Indiana? He said, I went online and filled out an affidavit. And when he ran for Senate, I think there were two people on the ballot, him and one other person. You don’t see that many people. So there are plenty of systems you could do. I’m in favor of a small ballot access hurdle that would either be financial. So let’s say you want to run for governor, pay a $5,000 or a $10,000 filing fee, or collect 1,000 signatures. Pretty low ballot access hurdle relative to what we’re looking at right now. If you want to run for Congress… maybe it’s $1,000 or $1,500 filing fee.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, Eli, if I may, really quick here, here’s what I don’t understand. These people who support the Davidians, they say that you want to control them. You want to control the outcomes. You want to wall people out, and yet they support a system where you have the fewest voters. They support a system where just a couple thousand voters would choose our candidates whereas we support a system where it’s up to 900 000 a million voters we open it to far more people they cut it down to far fewer people and then they say that we’re insiders controlling people i don’t get it andy you know we just talked to this olympic legend
SPEAKER 04 :
And sports bring out the best in people. Why? Because it’s competition. Yeah. And competition’s a good thing. It’s good for our economy. And guess what? It’s good for our political system. And rather than having a system where a few political insiders who are generally, you know, frankly corrupt, are out there picking our candidates, why don’t we put it out there to the broader electorate, the broader Republican electorate, and say, if you want to run for office, take your case to everybody in the primary. And is that going to cost money? Yeah, it’s going to cost money. I had to raise a lot of money when I ran for office. My wife had to when she ran for county commissioner. And let me tell you something. It actually makes you a better candidate to have to go around and ask people to financially support your campaign because those people will oftentimes, they’re not writing big checks and asking for kickbacks. Most of the time, people are asking you really nuts and bolts questions. Like, do you actually understand the job? If you’re running for a county commissioner, do you understand the role of a county commissioner? If you’re running for county treasurer, do you have good skills with money? I mean, basic things like that are what people who give money tend to, you know, tend to ask you. They’re not asking for favors. So are you going to have to raise money? Yeah. But guess what? If you’re sick and tired of losing, we need to put candidates out there that are going to be competitive in the general election and that can raise enough money to get a Republican and conservative message across the state. That’s the cold, hard truth. The way we’re doing things right now isn’t working. It’s a completely broken system. And if we want it fixed, if we want Republicans in charge, we’re eventually going to have to fix this system.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, but they want it broke further. They want to eliminate the only good part, okay? They want to have no primary.
SPEAKER 04 :
Andy, nothing’s new under the sun, okay? All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others. That’s the motto of the caucus.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, it really is. Okay, we got two minutes left here, Eli. I got to ask you this, because here’s what I believe is coming. They’re going to seize control very shortly. They’re going to have control of the Colorado State Party. And… You know, I think that they are going to try to opt out of the primary as soon as they can. What can we do going forward?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, first of all, it’s raise awareness, which I think is good. And the second is to demand change and accountability. We’re also what you missed is they’ll probably start suing everybody under the sun. These are the most litigious people I’ve ever seen. They are. And, you know. They’ve lost in court literally, you know, almost every single time. I mean, it’s absolutely crazy. But most of them are financially effectively bankrupt anyway. And so they’re not that concerned about losing and getting court fees associated or, you know, sanctioning against them. So, you know, I do think we’ll continue to see the litigiousness that they’ve had. Britta Horn did not initiate a single legal action.
SPEAKER 03 :
No, she didn’t. She was the defendant. They were the plaintiffs. In all of them. In 100% of them. And yet she was blamed by well over half the state central committee for the legal costs.
SPEAKER 04 :
And so what is going to happen? Unfortunately, our candidates are going to be on their own. We’re going to have we’re going to have people if they if the people who we suspect take over the party, the Colorado Republican Party will attack our candidates. They’ll try to hurt them. And, you know, we’ll be back kind of where we were a couple of years ago. My hat’s off to Britta for for taking a tough job on. I have great respect for her for that. And frankly, I You know, if I were a candidate this cycle, I’d be terrified because we’ve been down this road. We’ve read from this play sheet. That’s a pretty ugly one when you have the Republican Party attacking Republican candidates. But that’s what we’re going to get. And until we fix this system, you know, it’s just like socialism. Don’t expect a different result. You got a bad system. You’re going to have a bad outcome.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I will say this. I’m going to close with this, Eli. November is not on Britta Horn. It is on the Davidians. They own this November. They caused it, and it’s on them. Eli Bremer, once again, thank you so much for joining me today. It’s been a blast. All right. Thanks, Andy. Love being on with you. You bet. Take care. Folks, that’s it for today. Hour One replays next. John is back tomorrow for Health and Wellness Wednesday. Until then, drive safe, God bless, and thanks for joining us at Rush to Reason, KLZ 560.
