On the October 1 broadcast of KNUS's Backbone Radio, host John Andrews made the misleading assertion that the communications director for U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D-Manassa), Nayyera Haq, called U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) “a 'hater' simply because Tancredo praised the pope's plainspoken comments about Islamic violence.” Andrews's guest Scott Tipton, who is Salazar's Republican challenger for the 3rd Congressional District seat, added, “Tom Tancredo was talking about radical Muslims. He was standing up for, I think, a very intellectual speech that the pope had made.” While it is true that in a letter in defense of remarks that Pope Benedict XVI made in a controversial September 12 speech, Tancredo criticized radical Islamists, Haq's statement appears to have been directed at a different portion of Tancredo's letter, in which Tancredo criticized the “Islamic faith” itself.

The pope's speech, which quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor's characterization of some of the teachings of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as “evil,” initiated a wave of violent reaction in the Muslim world. Tancredo's September 20 letter called upon the pope to “resist calls to apologize for these statements -- as they accurately describe the motivation of radical Islamists who replace the political and religious pluralism of the western world with a modern-day caliphate.”

But as Colorado Media Matters has noted, Tancredo's letter went beyond criticism of radical Islamists. Addressing the pope, Tancredo wrote, “Like you, I believe any reformation of the Islamic faith is highly unlikely because it would require a radical reinterpretation of the Koran, something that you have correctly noted would be nearly impossible as Muslims view the Koran as a document that cannot be interpreted by man.”

As the Rocky Mountain News reported on September 21, Haq, a Muslim, commented on Tancredo's letter in a private email in which she criticized Tancredo for “disregard[ing] the existence of millions of law-abiding Muslim American citizens” and for failure to “focus more on building bridges with the progressives in the Muslim world rather than burning the few bridges we have left.” Haq also asserted that “Tancredo has always been articulate in expressing his hatred of Islam and immigrants.” The News reported Haq's September 20 email as follows:

“As a man, Tom Tancredo has always been articulate in expressing his hatred of Islam and immigrants -- no surprise there,” Haq said. “In his arrogance, he chooses to disregard the existence of millions of law-abiding Muslim American citizens. What is surprising is that as an elected representative, someone who should be working towards our collective safety, Tancredo chooses to throw more fuel on the fire with his hateful words.”

“Tancredo is being irresponsible with his congressional authority and is knowingly creating a more dangerous environment for all of us. Congressman Tancredo should focus more on building bridges with the progressives in the Muslim world rather than burning the few bridges we have left.”

On September 16, The Washington Post reported that "[t]he pope neither explicitly endorsed nor denounced the emperor's words, but rather used them as a preface to a discussion of faith and reason. The Vatican said the pope did not intend the remarks to be offensive to Muslims."

From the October 1 broadcast of KNUS's Backbone Radio:

ANDREWS: Before we go big-picture on the district -- the shortcomings of the incumbent and the issues you're running on -- let's go in for a close-up on this bizarre situation where a young woman staffer, Nayyera Haq, spokeswoman for your opponent, Congressman Salazar, has gone on record calling Salazar's Republican congressional colleague, Tom Tancredo, a “hater” simply because Tancredo praised the pope's plainspoken comments about Islamic violence. And I can hardly believe -- I've got three different stories on this in my hand here. I cannot believe that Salazar sort of shrugs all of this off and ducks and refuses to acknowledge the inappropriateness of her talking that way about a fellow congressman.

TIPTON: Now, I agree with you, John, and I think that it further demonstrates that he's really out of touch with the 3rd Congressional District and the rest of the state of Colorado. Tom Tancredo was talking about radical Muslims. He was standing up for, I think, a very intellectual speech that the pope had made. And it was entirely inappropriate for Miss Haq to make those comments. She certainly has the freedom of speech, but she used it from the platform of that congressional office. We have called on Congressman Salazar to issue apology to Congressman Tancredo, and we're still waiting to hear. I think it would be the responsible thing and the gentlemanly thing for him to do as well. But, as you indicate, he seems to want to be disconnected from it, and that's reflected in his congressional record as well.