Reporting on U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo's (R-CO) January 16 announcement that he will file paperwork to form an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run in 2008, several Colorado media outlets portrayed Tancredo as an immigration hard-liner whose potential candidacy could affect the 2008 Republican primaries. But they failed to mention Tancredo's history of controversial statements and falsehoods on a variety of topics.

An Associated Press article by Jennifer Talhelm published in the January 17 edition of The Pueblo Chieftain reported that experts “said the longtime illegal immigration foe could become a thorn in the sides of the other presidential candidates, forcing them to address conservative issues, particularly immigration.” However, the article never mentioned Tancredo's notoriety for making extreme, controversial, and outright false statements.

Abbreviated versions of Talhelm's article also appeared in the January 17 editions of The Gazette of Colorado Springs (accessed through the newspaper's electronic edition) and The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction.

Similarly, the Rocky Mountain News reported on January 17, “Tancredo moved beyond his trademark immigration issue and tried to portray himself as a 'common sense' Reagan conservative Tuesday, when he announced plans for an exploratory bid for president in 2008.” The News also quoted Des Moines Register political columnist David Yepsen:

Critics of Tancredo's fiery immigration rhetoric might dismiss him as “Tancrazy,” Yepsen wrote on Monday, but “objective observers of caucus politics understand he could be a factor in the race -- if he mounts a credible effort here [in the January 2008 Iowa caucuses].”

And The Denver Post on January 17 reported that "[a] Tancredo presidential bid would be a quixotic quest, analysts said. Though he's trying to broaden his appeal, Tancredo is known mostly for wanting to tighten immigration policies."

Tancredo, however, has drawn criticism for more than his hard-line position on immigration, as Colorado Media Matters has documented. Below are some examples:

“Reformation of the Islamic faith is highly unlikely”

On September 20, 2006, Tancredo sent an open letter to Pope Benedict XVI following the pope's controversial comments about Islam that touched off a wave of protests from Muslims across the globe. In a letter urging the pope not to apologize for the statements, Tancredo smeared Islam as a whole, claiming, “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.” Tancredo ended his letter:

Whether we want to admit it or not, the western world is locked in a struggle against radical Islam whose practitioners and adherents are inextricably linked to terrorism. If we are to successfully defend ourselves against the desire of our enemies to impose a caliphate on the world, we must first be willing to openly identify them.

Tancredo's letter to the pope was not the first time he made controversial remarks regarding Islam. In 2005, Tancredo came under fire after he suggested “the U.S. could 'take out' Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons,” according to a July 18, 2005, Associated Press article.

"[Miami] is the murder capital of the world"

In November 2006, Tancredo called Miami a “Third World country,” saying, “Look at what has happened to Miami. It has become a Third World country ... You just pick it up and take it and move it someplace. You would never know you're in the United States of America. You would certainly say you're in a Third World country.” His comments generated controversy and swift responses from Republican politicians including then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami.

In fact, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data show that in 2005, Miami experienced 54 murders out of a total city population of 388,295; that equated to a murder rate of 0.014 percent -- lower than a number of U.S. cities with populations of 250,000 or more including Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, Memphis, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Phoenix, and Columbus, Ohio.

Singing “Dixie”

While attending a fundraiser for the conservative Americans Have Had Enough Coalition at the South Carolina State Museum on September 9, 2006, Tancredo delivered an anti-immigration speech in a room draped with Confederate flags and reportedly joined in the singing of the Southern anthem “Dixie” with members of the neo-confederate South Carolina League of the South. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League describe the League of the South as a white-supremacist hate group.

Denver is a “sanctuary city”

On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, on September 21, 2006 -- shortly after making the same claim on 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show -- Tancredo dubiously claimed that Denver is a “sanctuary city” for illegal immigrants. However, as Colorado Media Matters has noted repeatedly, a significant amount of evidence contradicts the notion that so-called “sanctuary” policies exist in Colorado.

A “very big void in Iowa”

Tancredo's staff also has been guilty of making dubious claims. Speaking about Tancredo's presidential aspirations, Tancredo spokesman Carlos Espinosa claimed that U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has also formed an exploratory committee, “is not a very popular guy in Iowa ... [t]hat leaves a very big void in Iowa.” In fact, as Colorado Media Matters noted, a December poll commissioned by Des Moines, Iowa, CBS television affiliate KCCI found that Iowa voters ranked McCain the most popular potential Republican presidential candidate among 11 contenders.