Democratic Governor Declares I ‘Don’t Want Socialists’ to ‘Destroy’ My State

(AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) pulled no punches this week in jabbing the rising socialists within his own party in a reply on social media to a state representative criticizing his personal wealth. Colorado politics this election cycle have been among the most dramatic in the country (if not by far the most insane of any state), and Polis’s battle against the Democratic Socialists of America has added yet another dimension to the drama.

Following Zohran Mamdani’s (D) winning slate of DSA candidates in New York City, Denver voters ousted a 15-term incumbent Democratic Party congresswoman in favor of a DSA candidate in late June. Since that primary rocked Colorado politics, Polis has been warning about socialism as a “dangerous” policy for the U.S.

“Socialism dangerously concentrates political and economic power together. Government should be an independent check on the private sector, not the owner of it and not controlled by it,” Polis wrote in a Facebook post earlier in the week, adding:

And people are rightfully jaded that our country has not been able to deliver on basic things like universal healthcare which every other wealthy capitalist country has. It’s a frustration that I shared when I voted for the baby-steps forward Affordable Care Act years ago in Congress even though I felt we deserved so much more. But fascism and socialism aren’t the answer. Canada, Europe, Japan all have free universal healthcare and none of them are socialist or fascist. We can do it here, too.

Colorado state Rep. Yara Zokaie (D) replied to the post in a clip on social media. “Can someone tell Jared Polis that you can’t have universal health care while protecting the profits of giant insurance companies? What we have here is one of the state’s richest men, who has made his entire tenure as governor about padding the pockets of those as wealthy as him, trying to convince us that the real threat is socialism. Colorado, we can do so much better than this,” Zokaie fumed in the clip.

Polis shot back, sharing the clip and adding:

I’m not scared of anyone. I just care deeply about our state and don’t want the socialists to destroy it. In a Colorado for all we don’t think less of anyone because of their net worth. Whether you have no money or are millionaire, we love you in Colorado and want you thrive.

“Thanks to socialism, the average Zimbabwean became a trillionaire.”

Polis is term-limited and appears to be exiting politics when his term ends in early 2027, having adamantly insisted he won’t run for president. Polis’s recent decision to pardon pro-Trump election denier Tina Peters has led to criticism from inside his party in the state.

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