AURORA | No further comments have been made since Aurora Congressman Mike Coffman responded to criticism over ducking out the back door of a packed community meeting over the weekend, leaving behind dozens of constituents who were waiting for a chance to speak with him.
Footage from Denver TV station KUSA showed Coffman leaving the Aurora Central Public Library through a back door Saturday.
In a statement Sunday, Coffman said he regularly hosts meeting like this one but said this time — with Congress considering repealing the Affordable Care Act — backers of that measure showed up “with the goal of making a show.”
“Yesterday was unfortunate because partisan activists showed up only to disrupt the event I was holding at Aurora Central Library,” he said.
Coffman said he tries to meet with constituents either individually or in small groups and has done that throughout his career.
Even after he left Saturday’s meeting — a move that has garnered national headlines and widespread criticism for Aurora Republican — Coffman said is a statement that he still wants to see the ACA replaced.
“The great majority of Americans want the Obamacare mess cleaned up. My resolve isn’t the least bit shaken by these antics – the American people want Obamacare repealed and replaced,” he said in the statement.
A spokesperson for Coffman’s office did not return a request for comment.