Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a 2020 presidential candidate, participated in an hour-long CNN Town Hall Wednesday night, and he used the national telecast to magnify his governmental accomplishments while addressing some questionable, and weird, personal gaffes.
Hickenlooper boasted about his business prowess and eventually leading Colorado into legalizing marijuana, but he also confronted his past arrest for driving while intoxicated and the time he and his mother went to see a popular X-rated film together.
Hickenlooper didn't seem as far left as many other Democratic presidential candidates, but he did shade left of center. He said the federal government should "get out of the way" when it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana, and used his background knowledge to address things like "pesticides, legal barriers" and having one national system that works across state lines when it comes to marijuana.
Hickenlooper said health care "should be a right, and not a privilege," but he said the people who enjoy their private health insurance shouldn't be forced to give it up. He said universal health care would be sufficient, but only if private insurers and its clients would still get care not covered underneath a governmental umbrella.
When asked about white nationalism and the aftermath of the recent New Zealand mosques massacre, the former governor said the current White House administration "fans the flames of hatred."
"President [Donald] Trump should be ashamed of himself," Hickenlooper said, which brought perhaps the biggest standing ovation of the evening.
Although Hickenlooper said he was "against the death penalty," he seemed to stumble around answering the question on whether he would enforce a nationwide ban on the issue. He also seemed to dance around the questions of addressing police brutality against black men and proposed bills allowing late-term abortions. He said the best way to approach gun control was to "address mental health" issues, do more universal background checks and limit large-capacity magazines.
When it came to the possibility of squaring off against Trump, Hickenlooper said it's not good to face a bully face-to-face.
"I can't wait for Donald Trump to make up nicknames for me," Hickenlooper said, continuing on to say it's better for the president to face more than one person. "It's what bullies hate. They're insecure, narcissists and hate being laughed at."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Scott McDonald is a Newsweek deputy night editor based in Cape Coral, Florida. His focus is assigning and writing stories ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
