Senate hopeful calls release of ‘birther’ audio sleazy

A Colorado Springs man who would like to make his mark in Washington caught the nation’s attention with a comment about the president’s birthplace.

Audio of Owen Hill was captured last Friday at a Republican get together in Denver. It was leaked to Buzzfeed Thursday.

In the recording, Hill is referencing his time in Kenya with Compassion International and his visit with kids in the slums.

“It’s a tragic place but you spend time out there and there are little kids running around barefoot in these kind of streets and you ask them what they want to be,” said Hill. “They want to be an astronaut, they want to be a physicist, a marine biologist– one kid he wanted to be President of the United States. And I held back my snarky comment that said,”Well, we already have someone from Kenya.”

Colorado Springs has remained quiet about the remarks. No one with El Paso County Republicans wanted to comment. Neither did political insiders KRDO Newschannel 13 contacted.

Neither Hill’s Facebook page nor personal website made mention of the audio leak.

In a statement, Hill said the comment was a joke.

Hill tweeted, “The reason it’s funny is because I’m not a ‘birther’. The reason it’s “sleazy” is because they know it.”

Hill is vying for Senator Mark Udall’s senate seat in 2014. There are several other Republicans also in the race including Randy Baumgardner, Ken Buck, Jaime McMillan and Amy Stephens.

Hill represents state Senate District 10, which covers the northeastern section of Colorado Springs and part of El Paso County. He was elected in 2012.