After the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13, Woodrow, a Denver Democrat elected in District 2, posted this on X: "The last thing America needed was sympathy for the devil but here we are."
Among the first to see this ill-timed observation was Ensrom, who responded, "Who is running against this asshole, and where do we send the check?"
Colorado State Representative Steven Woodrow
Colorado.gov
Enstrom isn't sure which of these folks amplified his note, but he's got his suspicions: "There's a guy who goes by the name Cat Turd" — Phillip Buchanan, a commentator from Florida with 2.6 million followers — "and he picked up on it. I saw one post that had 300,000 views, which is a pretty good shot."
It was hardly the only one. According to Colorado Public Radio, Woodrow's devil reference was viewed nearly two million times and generated thousands of comments from incensed X users before he deleted his account.
Woodrow tried to mitigate the damage, texting CPR: "My message, as inarticulate as it was, is that acts of violence like this are awful and only make it more likely that Trump now wins. We must always resolve our differences peacefully at the ballot box — not through violence. I know people are hurting, and apologize that my words caused additional pain."
But this mea culpa didn't prevent an avalanche of ugly media coverage. Denver7 and the Denver Gazette were among the local outlets to use Woodrow's stumble as a tie-in to national events. Right-wing information sources such as the Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal piled on, too, as did the Baltimore Sun and other mainstream publications.
On July 15, as fellow Democrats joined in the contamination, Woodrow issued an apology: "I condemn this attempt on President Trump's life in the most forceful of terms. My message, as inarticulate as it was, is that acts of violence like that are more awful and only make it more likely that Trump now wins...".
Watching the explosion with wonder and amusement was Enstrom, who subsequently returned to X with the cheeky claim, "I really didn't mean to start anything."
Not that Enstrom saw anything funny about the remark by Woodrow, whom he's never met. "It offended my sensibilities," he says.
"I spend quite a bit of time on the platform," Enstrom confirms, "and when I see something egregious, I feel compelled to comment. But mostly, it's just for fun. I certainly try not to take myself seriously, other than the fact that I'm now one of those old guys I used to hate when I was younger. But if you say something on the platform with a smile, you can say anything at all."
An example of this approach can be found in his response to the item about Woodrow by recent Westword cover subject Kyle Clark. The 9News anchor's causes include "Word of Thanks," a regular fundraising effort in which he encourages viewers to make small contributions to worthy charities. "I think I started my own little micro-giving campaign," Enstrom posted. "I seeded it with $450."
That amount went to Michael DiManna, the Republican running against Woodrow in heavily Democratic District 2. DiManna has a big hill to climb if he wants to unseat Woodrow, who took office after winning the 2022 election with 75.4 percent of the vote. But Enstrom senses that DiManna "is going to get pretty well-funded out of this, and the Dems are now going to have to give money to Woodrow that they would have used on other candidates. It just made the race a little more interesting."
Starting a firestorm wasn't his goal, Enstrom insists, "but I will take credit for lighting the candle."
