U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet could have sent a strong message of support to Colorado’s Muslim community, as Palestinians here still grieve the loss of friends and family in a relentless bombing campaign that killed tens of thousands of people and left Hamas in power in Gaza.
Instead, Bennet backed out of a candidate forum hosted by Muslim leaders. His campaign cited concerns that the event for Democratic candidates for governor would not be a productive place for dialogue on a complicated issue. Attorney General Phil Weiser, who is also pursuing the Democratic nomination for governor, attended the event Sunday,
The message was clear — Bennet was more afraid of the optics of fumbling tough questions about Israel’s war tactics or getting shouted down by angry constituents than he was the optics of agreeing to attend an event and then not showing up for the community.
Bennet’s job as an elected official is to talk publicly about his votes and policy decisions and indicate to voters how he will act as governor of Colorado. Candidate forums can sometimes be more show than substance, and we have all seen clips of uncomfortable town halls and even aggressive confrontations with elected officials. We always want debates to be productive and nuanced, but the reality is that not every outcome can be controlled by organizers of an event. We hope Bennet shows greater resolve in the future to attend these events despite the risk of outbursts or confrontations.
Because of the weight of the subject, passions run high on both sides of the issue. Several investigations by human rights groups indicate Israel waged a genocidal war with the intent to kill, displace, starve and injure Palestinian civilians. Israel, meanwhile, was responding to the horrendous terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and the worst of their bombing campaign ended when the last hostages — alive or dead — were finally released by Hamas.
It is especially myopic for Bennet to skip the event because the U.S. senator, who wants to lead Colorado soon, has a heartfelt message about his support of Palestinians and his opposition to the actions of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.
Bennet made good on his pledge to answer tough questions about Gaza and Israel in a brief phone interview Friday with The Denver Post. For that, we are grateful. During his long time serving Colorado in the Senate, Bennet has always proven himself willing to take difficult questions and be transparent about his actions.
“Over and over again, I pushed both the Biden administration and the Trump administration to reflect the deep, deep concerns that I think many Americans have over the number of casualties and deaths in Gaza, which now amount to 70,000,” Bennet said, but he refused to use the term genocide to describe the war.
“This is obviously not a word I take lightly, given my own mother being born in Warsaw in 1938. My mother, her parents and her aunt were the only people (from my family) to survive the Holocaust. It is not a word I would use to describe the situation in Gaza,” Bennet said. He later said that his mother sees herself in the children of Gaza, and he has also taken that to heart as he pushes for peace in the Middle East and a two-state solution in Israel.
We now know that the candidate forum hosted by Colorado Muslim Vote was well run and that there were no outbursts or dramatic interruptions. We know that because Weiser showed up and spent a long time on stage answering tough questions in front of a tough audience.
Weiser also refused to call Israel’s attacks genocide, but did say there had been human rights violations in the war campaign.
“I will say that the Netanyahu government has had actions and policies that I find abhorrent and that pain me,” Weiser told the audience, who did not at all seem placated by the careful equivocation about whether we are talking about a genocide, war crimes or human rights violations.
Neither candidate would take a position on a 2016 state law that requires the state to divest from companies or funds that refuse to do business with Israel. Bennet said he’d need more time to consider the legislation, and Weiser said he opposes using investment funds to make international policy statements.
The election is still several months away, and we think constituents on both sides of the issue deserve an honest answer now from the candidates about whether they would veto or sign a bill repealing the 2016 divestment law.
Earnest transparency goes a long way with voters, even if they disagree with the answer, as does showing up to events with voters who are likely to disagree with you. Colorado deserves the very strongest candidates for governor in 2026.
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