‘Apostle of Hate’: Colorado Politician’s Anti-Jewish History Could Derail Campaign

A Jewish advocacy group is urging “all Colorado citizens of good faith—to say NO to this apostle of hatred,” who has tweeted antisemitic messages and called for the Jewish state’s elimination.

By JNS.org

A Democratic candidate running to represent District 6 in the Colorado State House drew condemnation from local Jewish leaders after news of her past tweets mirroring anti-Semitic rhetoric emerged.

Candidate Elisabeth Epps’s Twitter posts were first reported on June 10 by Intermountain Jewish News. Screenshots of the controversial tweets were posted on social media earlier this week by the watchdog group StopAntisemitism.org.

Epps serves as executive director of the Colorado Freedom Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps bail out individuals who cannot afford the cost of a bond in Colorado.

Her tweets, some of which invoked anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money, were shared on Epps’s personal Twitter account @elisabeth, which is now set to private mode.

“Rebecca and Benjamin. Hmmm. #POTUS starts out #SOTU low-key reminding you that Israel is constituent #1,” Epps wrote in one tweet.

In another, she wrote: “We are just right for old bigoted Jewish billionaires with Alzheimer’s tho! We’re their grandkids age!”

“I want to be a Jewish lawyer billionaire pro-sports team owner when I grow up. 1 down, 3 to go,” stated another of Epps’ tweets.

In 2014, according to tweets Intermountain Jewish News reviewed, the candidate accused Israel of “colonization” and “apartheid,” tweeting, “The phrase ‘Palestinian-Israeli conflict’ = misnomer/lie. Colonization, apartheid, genocide & nationalism are not ‘conflict.’ ”

In 2020, Epps posted the phrase “From the river to the sea” on her Twitter account, an expression that calls for the elimination of Israel.

“It is incumbent upon all members of the Jewish community—and all Colorado citizens of good faith—to say NO to this apostle of hatred towards the Jewish state,” wrote 30 Colorado Jewish leaders in an open letter published in Intermountain Jewish News.

“We do not need a Colorado state representative who falsely characterizes Israeli policy as ‘colonization, apartheid, genocide and nationalism,’ ” stated the letter, adding that Epps has “demonstrated that she is uninformed about Israel’s position and shows no interest in educating herself.”

She ‘Owns Her Words’?

Epps responded to reports about her tweets in a June 10 statement she shared via Facebook.

“I have been and will always be outspoken in my condemnation of anti-Semitism, even as I acknowledge that I am not its arbiter. It is clear that folks researching my candidacy searched for the words ‘Israel’ and ‘Palestine,’ ” she said.

“When I decided to run for office, I could’ve scrubbed my social-media presence or deleted my Twitter like so many politicians do. I didn’t—and still haven’t—not because I stand firm in everything I’ve ever said, but because I am willing to own my words, to learn and to allow room for growth,” stated the news release.

“Elisabeth Epp’s horrific tweets mirror white-supremacist rhetoric of Jewish power and control. This type of egregious antisemitism, whether purposeful or misguided, does not belong in Colorado,” StopAntisemitism executive director Liora Rez told JNS.

“Furthermore, in her follow-up statement pertaining to her posts, Epps never once stated ‘sorry’, ‘apologize’ or ‘regret’—something we find extremely troubling and has us questioning her sincerity.”

Rez’s organization also pointed out that Epps is a member of, and has been endorsed by, the left-leaning Democratic Socialists of America, which has been known for its anti-Israel rhetoric.