Before he was a congressman, Jeff Crank hosted a talk-radio show in Colorado Springs. On it, he told listeners what he thought about climate change.
"It talks about, really, what is the greatest hoax of our time," Crank said on KVOR in 2019. "The first is this issue of man-made climate change."
That recording surfaced this week, when the Colorado Times Recorder published a review of more than 800 hours of The Jeff Crank Show from 2011 to 2021. The outlet posted the audio. According to the review, he called the Russia investigation "a close second."
The radio host became the voting record
A lot of people said a lot of things on talk radio. What matters is what they do when they get power. Crank now has a voting record, and it lines up with the radio show.
The League of Conservation Voters scores every member of Congress on environmental votes. Jeff Crank scored 0% in 2025, and has a 0% lifetime score. Not low. Zero. Not one of his votes on the bills the group scored went the environment's way.
That's what "hoax" looks like once it has a voting card.
Not the only thing on the tapes
The Colorado Times Recorder found that the same themes run through the show that Crank now brings to Congress: cutting federal health care, restricting abortion, and military action abroad.
- In 2020, two months before the election, he told listeners: "Stop calling yourself pro-life if, in this election, you don't get out and vote for Donald Trump."
- In 2019, he said the Catholic Church "should excommunicate" Nancy Pelosi "for what she does on abortion."
- In 2017, he said, "I think we're going to have to go in and take military action in North Korea," predicting "the bloodiest conflict probably of our lifetime."
The review ties that last one to the present: Crank now supports Trump's war in Iran.
Crank's campaign adviser told the outlet it was "cherry-picking" and called the reporting "a cheap political hit, not journalism."
What he isn't standing in the way of
We've written about Trump's EPA brushing off a judge who ruled its climate grant cuts illegal and about a House Republican bill to shield oil companies from climate lawsuits.
A member of Congress who once named man-made climate change first on his list of "the greatest hoax of our time" isn't going to stand in the way of any of it. His 0% score says he hasn't.
We've also covered Crank's record on birthright citizenship and guns on military bases.
The facts, in short
On his 2019 radio show, Jeff Crank said "the greatest hoax of our time" starts with "man-made climate change." In Congress, he has a 0% environmental score from the League of Conservation Voters for 2025 and a 0% lifetime score. His campaign called the reporting "cherry-picking."
Source
The 'Greatest Hoax of Our Time': On His Radio Show, Congressman Jeff Crank Foreshadowed Trump's Agenda — Colorado Times Recorder, September 23, 2026. Image: Colorado Times Recorder.
