Donald Trump has picked all kinds of fights with all kinds of people, but Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Brett Lacey was an unlikely target for the Republican presidential nominee.
And yet, here we are. The Denver Post reported over the weekend that Trump was furious with Lacey because the marshal capped the attendance at a Trump campaign event on Friday.
Criticizing the fire marshal on Friday, Trump said he didn’t know what he was doing and was “probably a Democrat.”Lacey, was recently honored by the city as “Civilian of the Year” for his role in helping the wounded at a 2015 mass shooting at a local Planned Parenthood.
Towards the end of his appearance, Trump told supporters, “Now because of your fire marshal, who I am not a fan of, he’s probably a Democrat, probably a guy than doesn’t get it, I’m going to go into the other room and say hello to people that didn’t get your location.”
According to the fire marshal, the Trump campaign distributed too many tickets for the venue, and Lacey felt it necessary to look out for public safety. In other words, Lacey was doing his job.
But that’s not the funny part of the story. This is the funny part of the story.
As Donald Trump took the stage in Colorado Springs almost an hour after he was scheduled to speak, he blasted the fire marshal, saying “they don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” for not allowing more people in to see the town hall Friday afternoon.But KRDO-TV, our sister station in Colorado Springs, reports it was exactly the knowledge of Colorado Springs Fire Department officials which allowed him to get to the rally in the first place.
According to local reports, Trump and some members of his team got stuck in a hotel elevator before the event. They were rescued by Colorado Springs Fire Marshal Brett Lacey’s team.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) turned to Twitter and directed a message to Trump directly: “Donald, unbelievable. Even for you. Fire Chief Lacey deserves respect, not humiliation. How about an apology?”
As best as I can tell, as of this morning, Trump hasn’t apologized.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."