Everyday Americans stronger than MAGA hate
A secretly recorded Zoom video leads to national coverage of western Garfield County
Even though a jury of everyday people unanimously found Donald Trump guilty of 34 felonies, MAGA hardliners have not let up on pushing their fear-mongering agenda, even right here in Garfield County.
The Denver Post recently reported that the far-right hate group Moms for Liberty is active in Garfield County. This should come as no surprise as we’ve been seeing a rise of local controversies with a cadre of residents demonizing the LGBTQ community, vilifying immigrants, and manufacturing a moral panic around our libraries.
The anti-democracy MAGA agenda, which is outlined in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, is unpopular among Americans; it loses repeatedly at the ballot box. That’s why far-right leaders try to sneak it in underhandedly by instructing their followers to take over local schools and libraries. Rather than supporting schools and libraries as institutions that help us all become well-informed, critical thinkers, MAGA activists aim to use schools and libraries to advance their rigid ideology.
Our county witnessed this strategy last fall when Garfield Re-2 School Board President Tony May tried to push the far-right American Birthright Standards. Community members rose up in opposition, leading the district to organize a Social Studies Committee to formally gather input. All Re-2 staff and community members were invited to participate.
A wide cross-section of community members convened for a total of about ten hours, and discovered common ground around providing children an honest and accurate education. In the end, 83% of participants voted to adopt Colorado’s State Standards, rejecting American Birthright Standards.
Some committee participants then formed the Coalition for Responsible Education in Re-2, which is pursuing a recall of May. The Coalition is supporting Republican Scott Bolitho to replace May in the recall election.
The Coalition’s grounds for recalling May include that he has “repeatedly misused his position…(to) bully parents, staff and community members with whom he disagrees” and he “blatantly disregards District policies and processes.”
The recall effort has broad, bipartisan support. The three-person Recall Committee includes a Republican, a Democrat, and an Unaffiliated voter; two Anglos and one Latino. The current mayors of Rifle, Silt, and New Castle all signed the petition as did over 20% more Re-2 community members than is required to trigger a recall election. The date for that election will be set soon.
Rather than addressing the issues raised by the Coalition, May and his defenders have attacked individual supporters of the recall, calling them “communists,” “predators,” and “Satanists.” May also filed two protests, claiming Garfield County Clerk Jackie Harmon set an incorrect timeframe for the petition. In both hearings, May’s claims were dismissed.
A secretly recorded video, which has made national news, reveals the extent to which May is being directed by outsiders, including Sherronna Bishop, the fervent defender of indicted Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, and Killie Kohls of the far-right group Moms for America. Bishop and Kohls instruct May and his followers to put their “propaganda machine” to work, insist the school district cover May’s legal fees, and “make Tony look like a victim.” Listen to the straightforward comments by Coalition founder Willow Brotzman at the May 8 board meeting, and May’s absurd attempt to paint himself as a victim by declaring, “I’m going to take that as a threat.”
Texas School Board Member and Republican Courtney Gore has provided unusual insight into the disinformation campaign driving the far-right’s attack on schools. Gore campaigned as a conservative hard-liner, promising to root out from every classroom the “sexualization of children” and inappropriate teachings about race. After winning her election, Gore spread out hundreds of pages of curriculum across her living room and spent evenings and weekends poring over them.
She was shocked to find zero evidence of “leftwing indoctrination.” Excited to share this good news with her campaign-backers, she found they didn’t want to hear it. Gore said they were more interested in attacking schools for their “leftist indoctrination” than the reality that schools were simply teaching kids “how to be a good friend, a good human.”
Gore was smart enough to realize she was being played by outside influencers and brave enough to speak out about it. “I refuse to be someone’s puppet,” she posted, “I refuse to participate in any agenda that will dismantle or abolish public education…I refuse to participate in divisive politics any longer… I am still a conservative, Christian and a Republican.”
In Garfield County local community members are also calling out attempts by the far-right to turn neighbors against neighbors. MAGA activists are outnumbered here by those who are standing up to hateful rhetoric and insisting upon kindness and respect for all.
From the twelve members of the jury that convicted Trump to Re-2 community members, we’re seeing how everyday people can resist the hate and bullying of the MAGA agenda, and shape our future for the better.
Debbie Bruell of Carbondale chairs the Garfield County Democrats and is a past member of the Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education.
