U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo lambasted her Republican opponent Tuesday, saying Gabe Evans had not adequately renounced recently publicized social media posts by his now-former political director that were antisemitic and promoted political violence.
“He has not said whether he disagrees with her offensive posts or spoken out against antisemitism,” Caraveo, a Democrat, said during a brief online news conference. “Let’s be clear: Hate and antisemitism have no place in our society. We must stand up to all forms of intolerance, wherever and whenever we see it.”
On Tuesday, Evans, a state representative, directly condemned the comments from his former political director, Jessica Spindle, in an email to The Denver Post.
“Gabe fully rejects the offensive material contained in those social media posts,” campaign spokesman Alan Philp wrote. “That’s why he acted immediately upon learning of them.”
The posts by Spindle were laid out in a story last week by the Colorado Times Recorder. The online outlet showed screenshots of Spindle’s posts on social media sites, including Facebook, that were antisemitic, along with one in which she wrote “please shoot her” — in reference to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat.
In 2019, Spindle praised a mashup flag combining the United States flag, the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and the Confederate flag. She also posted favorably about the QAnon movement, a sprawling conspiracy theory that claims Donald Trump is fighting a secret, satanic cult of world leaders and celebrities intent on world domination.
Spindle’s posts largely date back to 2019 through 2021, before the Times Recorder said that she first worked with Evans, helping him win election to the state House in 2022. But its story said Spindle posted an antisemitic image as recently as June.
Spindle’s account on Facebook has been made private and her account on the social platform X appears to have been deactivated.
Evans’ campaign said Spindle was fired last week “after a number of inappropriate comments she made on social media were brought to our attention.”
Philp didn’t respond to a question about how Spindle had been vetted for the campaign’s political director position or how Evans could have been unaware of her postings on social media. Spindle, who serves on the Board of Education for the Weld RE-9 School District, based in Fort Lupton, did not return an email request for comment.
Illinois Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider, who is Jewish, joined Caraveo on Tuesday’s call. He called Evans “extreme” and accused him of “not standing with the Jewish people” against hate.
Evans’ campaign attempted to turn the tables on Caraveo, a freshman representative, by criticizing her no vote last November on a bill that would have provided $14.3 billion to Israel in its fight against Hamas. At the time of her vote, Caraveo said she opposed the bill because Republicans designed it to be funded by stripping money from the Internal Revenue Service. The entire Colorado Democratic congressional delegation voted against the bill.
The Evans campaign also said Caraveo wasn’t vocal enough in criticizing college protests against Israel this past spring, which at times veered into what some Colorado Jewish students perceived as displays of antisemitism.
The 8th Congressional District is considered one of the closest House races in the country in November’s election and stands as Colorado’s most evenly divided district by voter affiliation. The district covers northern Denver suburbs in Adams County and stretches north to Greeley and into a small slice of Larimer County.
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