Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who recently aligned himself with Donald Trump and the president-elect’s new administration, will attend the inauguration ceremony on Monday, his office confirmed on Sunday.
“As chairman of the National Governors Association, I lead a national, bipartisan group of America’s governors attending the presidential inauguration,” Polis said in a statement Sunday. “The relationship between states and the federal government is critical to getting things done and delivering results for Americans.”
The Colorado governor, whose last two years in office coincided with former President Trump’s return to power, endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris during her campaign. Now he has taken a more balanced approach to dealing with the new Trump administration.
Polis, a Democrat, cheered Trump’s nomination of anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in November. Policy later defended his comments saying “science must remain the cornerstone of our country’s health policy,” that he personally supports vaccination and he hopes RFK Jr. will focus on “major pharmaceutical and corporate companies.”
He has also tried to banter on social media with Republican players Vivek Ramaswamy and billionaire Elon Musk, both of whom lead a group charged with studying possible cuts to the federal budget.
At a press conference before Christmas, Polis used a power saw to shred a decades-old stack of executive orders to show how he was repealing unnecessary regulations.
“Nice work,” Ramaswamy, the brash MAGA disciple whom Trump recruited to help cut government spending, said on social media. “Send that paper shredder to (the Department of Government Efficiency next month!”)
Polis reposted Ramaswamy’s post and continued to banter with him on the site about the closing of a federal cheese plant in Missouri, according to The Associated Press.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Polis explained his reach with his favorite refrain not often heard in today’s hyper-polarized politics: “We can get good ideas from the left and the right.”
“There may be people who say too simplistically that they are for or against what is happening in Washington,” he said. “I think it’s a little more nuanced than that.”
Polis previously said he doesn’t want to pick a fight with the Trump administration, but said he won’t back down if the agenda “hurts our people.”
In his State of the State Addressthe governor said he opposed Trump’s planned tariffs and emphasized that Colorado would be the “permanent” home of the US Space Command, whose headquarters could again be questioned by Trump.
Polis also said the state “does not support efforts to deport U.S. citizens, target those awaiting legal status (or) break up families” – a reference to the mass Trump’s deportation plans.
“Operation Aurora” is named after the culturally diverse Colorado city of 400,000 that drew national attention after Trump repeatedly exaggerated claims that violent Venezuelan gangs had taken control.
“I truly hope that President-elect Trump and Congress can work together quickly to secure the border, stop human trafficking, and stop the illegal flow of weapons and drugs,” Polis said earlier this month. “As a state, we welcome more federal assistance to detain and deport dangerous criminals. I also hope that Congress will finally provide legal options for ‘dreamers’ and those who want to come out of the shadows and make Colorado greater.”
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