Colorado Democratic Senate candidate John Hickenlooper apologized for past comments comparing politicians to slaves being whipped in an “an ancient slave ship,” saying Monday he realizes those remarks were “painful.”
Video of the remarks was unearthed and tweeted by Tay Anderson, a black Denver school board member who has been at the forefront of protests following the death of George Floyd.
The video shows Hickenlooper, the former governor of the state, speaking at an event about political schedulers.
“Imagine an ancient slave ship,” he tells the audience. He says the schedulers are the people who lashed slaves to keep them rowing the ship. “We elected officials are the ones rowing,” Hickenlooper said. He added that politicians are often asked to do “hard, thankless things,” similar to slaves.
In a statement released through his campaign, Hickenlooper said: “Taking a look at this video from six years ago, I recognize that my comments were painful. I did not intend them to be. I offer my deepest apologies.”
Anderson has endorsed Hickenlooper’s opponent, former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, in the Democratic primary for the Senate.
Hickenlooper has been seen as the front-runner to defeat incumbent GOP Sen. Cory Gardner but has not escaped criticism from both the left and right.
He later apologized, saying “I tripped over my words.”
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