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Prior to becoming the Republican nominee in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District, Erik Aadland loudly proclaimed the 2020 presidential election was “absolutely rigged.” Now, as he faces a general electorate in a district that voted for Biden by more than 57%, Aadland is staying silent.
After news broke that a local Republican group deleted footage of Aadland claiming the 2020 election was “absolutely rigged,” Aadland has refused to offer comment as to why he supported conspiracy that would invalidate the votes of the very Coloradans he seeks to represent.
Tonight, President Biden will give an address confronting the ongoing threat that Aadland and his fellow conspiracy theorists pose to our nation. As MAGA Republicans seek to undermine the will of the voters and sow discord across the country, Aadland panders to and is deeply complicit in their extremism, no matter how hard he may try and hide.
“Now that he is facing a general electorate in a blue state, Erik Aadland doesn’t want to talk about his conspiracy-addled, anti-democratic rant,” said DCCC spokesperson Maddy Mundy. “Erik Aadland can run, but he can’t hide from the consequences of his dangerous record. Coloradans will soundly reject Aadland’s extremism in November.”
Read more about Aadland’s extremism below:
Colorado Newsline: GOP group removes video of congressional candidate Aadland’s ‘rigged’ election claim
By Chase Woodruff
August 26, 2022
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A Jefferson County Republican group has quietly removed from its website a video of a conspiracy theory-laden speech by Colorado congressional candidate Erik Aadland, in which he falsely claimed the 2020 election was “absolutely rigged.”
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Aadland, an Army veteran and former oil and gas executive, spoke to the Jefferson County Republican Men’s Club in June 2021, shortly after declaring his candidacy for the U.S. Senate. Following longtime Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s announcement that he would not seek reelection in 2022, Aadland jumped to the 7th Congressional District race, where he faces state Democratic Sen. Brittany Pettersen.
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“The 2020 election, it was rigged. Absolutely rigged,” Aadland said in the speech to Jefferson County Republicans last year. “If you do enough looking into it, I think you’ll be convinced.”
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“It’s extremely scary what transpired,” he continued. “There was a significant amount of fraud in the 2020 election.”
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Facing a tough race against Pettersen in a district that leans Democratic, Aadland has since hedged over questions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election. In April, he told KNUS radio host George Brauchler that he could not say “definitively” whether or not fraud affected the outcome, and that he would not “commit to a black-or-white answer.”
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Aadland’s campaign did not respond to questions about his position on the 2020 election or the removal of the June 2021 video. Conspiracy theories alleging widespread fraud in the election have been debunked by experts, courts and former President Donald Trump’s own campaign and administration officials.
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Aadland began his remarks to the JRMC in dark, conspiratorial terms, warning that the country is in the midst of a “crisis” unlike any it has faced since the Civil War.
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“We are on the precipice of losing this country if we don’t stand up and fight,” he said. “This country is on the brink of being taken over by a communist government.”
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Aadland’s shifting rhetoric on election fraud comes as several Republican candidates across the country backtrack on their previously stated positions, amid renewed hopes among Democrats that their party can avoid significant losses in the 2022 midterm elections.
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