Colorado U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and Attorney General Phil Weiser attended a virtual event discussing Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump and the Republicans, stating Democrats will keep “fighting back everywhere we can.”
“Never in my life has somebody posed so much danger and done so much damage,” Hickenlooper said of Trump. “He’s done one thing after another.”
The webinar Wednesday was organized by Indivisible Colorado, which is part of a national progressive grassroots movement dedicated to defeating “the rightwing takeover of American government.”
Hickenlooper and Weiser, both Democrats, have both been outspoken opponents of Trump and many of the moves his administration has taken since Inauguration Day.
“What’s sad about this moment is how much hating, how much divisiveness we are seeing from this administration on a scale we’ve never seen before,” Weiser said during the event. “This is not sustainable. This cannot be allowed to stand.”
Both Hickenlooper and Weiser are major figures in the Democratic Party.
Elected to the U.S. Senate in 2020, Hickenlooper previously served as both the mayor of Denver and the Colorado governor.
As attorney general, Weiser has taken the lead in filing multiple lawsuits against the Trump administration. He is also currently running for governor in 2026 in the Centennial State.
Hickenlooper explained his concerns with many of Trump’s policy directives, especially calling out Trump for his contentious meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office last week.
“He disgraced our nation like I’ve never seen before in my life when he shunned our allies to cuddle up to one of our worst enemies on Earth, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin,” Hickenlooper said. “This stuff is unthinkable.”
With Republicans holding a trifecta in Washington D.C. with the White House and both chambers of Congress, Hickenlooper said Democrats have mobilized to fight back “everywhere we can.”
“We’ve got about 2,000, maybe almost 3,000, lawyers who are trying to find a way to investigate … or litigate every place where the law has been broken,” he explained. “We’ve also planted dozens and dozens, probably close to 50 or 100 whistleblowers, because we need stories. We need to find out all those places where he [Trump] is breaking the law.”
Hickenlooper added that Democrats are also working with influencers to “master social media.”
This unified strategy is what will change the tide for Democrats and bring in some moderate Republicans, he said.
“We recognize that where we have real power is when we are united,” he said. “This is how we’re going to win, especially with so many Republican House members who are vulnerable … we have some real advantages. Some of these Republicans are going to flip.”
Weiser also called out Republicans, especially for their “attacks on the Affordable Care Act” and “reckless cuts on government spending.”
“They’re not engaged in responsible governance. They are viewing this as performance, that there’s some sport in this to scare people and to try to make people afraid,” he said of proposed plans for deportations. “That’s not how we do things in the United States of America. We’re a nation of laws.”
Weiser explained how he feels Colorado will be an example for the nation during “what is a very dark chapter.”
“We either preserve the law as a nation . . . [or] we lose everything,” Weiser said. “We in Colorado can and will be a beacon. We’re going to get through this as a nation, and there will be a chance for us to repair and renew our nation.”
Hickenlooper said Democrats need to have a “better approach” in elections moving forward, especially after being “punched in the gut” by the 2024 election.
“I want to get back to the point where 10 years ago, we could have a Democratic senator from Indiana or Kansas or Missouri. That’s now considered impossible,” he said. “I think most people in America share our basic values, and I think we have to figure out how to present those values in a slightly broader way without ever compromising our support for people’s civil rights or personal freedoms.”
This is the moment for Democrats to step up and share a different vision, Hickenlooper argued.
“We’ve got to switch the narrative. Trump promised he’d lower costs. He’s doing the opposite,” he said. “People don’t want to live in uncertainty and chaos … we just have to return to being the champion of working people. I think that’s how we take back Congress, and ultimately we’ll take back the White House.”
