The leader of the House Republicans on Monday stripped Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt from one of his two committee posts, saying the lawmaker’s “curse of God” comments about a woman whose fetus was ripped from her womb were in “poor taste” and “insensitive.”
Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso said he removed Klingenschmitt from the Health, Insurance and Environment Committee because he believed “there needed to be some kind of disciplinary action.”
“This is one of the few tools I have in my toolbox, and this seemed like the appropriate course of action,” said DelGrosso, a Loveland Republican.
Klingenschmitt, a Colorado Springs Republican, said he believes taking him off the committee was unfair, but on Monday he announced he was suspending his “television preaching ministry” for six weeks, saying it has “overshadowed” his job as a state lawmaker.
“I will not quit either job. But for now I am 100 percent devoted to representing the voters of House District 15,” the lawmaker said.
A group called Right Wing Watch regularly posts Klingenschmitt’s comments from his daily video program “Pray in Jesus Name.” The left regularly pounces on his remarks, but Republicans were aghast at his comments last week when he referenced the attack on 26-year-old Michelle Wilkins of Longmont. She survived but her 34-week-old baby girl did not.
“This is the curse of God upon America for our sin of not protecting innocent children in the womb, and part of that curse for our rebellion against God as a nation is that our pregnant women are ripped open,” Klingenschmitt said.
Fellow Republicans distanced themselves from his comments, and Democrat Gina Knaack, who lives in Klingenschmitt’s district, sought information from the secretary of state about how to do a recall, although she is unsure if she will proceed.
On his show Monday, Klingenschmitt dissected the news stories about his comments, then said he wanted to apologize for “my words last week.”
“I was so angry I forgot to be compassionate,” he said. “My words were wrong. My tone was wrong. My choice of scripture was wrong. Everything I did about that report was wrong, and honestly I apologize to you, Michelle Wilkins. I apologize to you, the viewers. I apologize to the voters and constituents in Colorado Springs.”
In an e-mail, he protested being bounced from his committee.
“I am literally being punished for quoting unpopular Bible verses in my Sunday church, or interpreting the Old Testament differently than Leader DelGrosso interprets it, during my private ministry outside the Capitol. Is that suddenly a crime?” he wrote in the e-mail.
Klingenschmitt is a former Navy chaplain who has been warned by others that he cannot separate what he says on his ministerial video show from his role as a lawmaker.
“I’m a business owner and if I go back and I treat my employees in an unethical way, if I’m not paying them or whatever, that reflects on everybody,” DelGrosso said. “I can’t say, ‘Well, that’s in my own personal business and I should be able to do whatever I want.’ As an elected official, I’m an elected official 24-7 whether I like it or not.”
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
