What does it take for a Democratic presidential candidate to be covered for a gaffe? Does discussing the time you went to see a pornographic movie with your mother count? Apparently not as the networks on Thursday skipped the former Colorado governor’s recounting taking his mom to see the X-rated 1970s movie Deep Throat.
Appearing at a CNN town hall, Wednesday, host Dana Bash asked Hickenlooper about the story in his book about coming home from college and offering to take his mom to see porn. The 2020 presidential candidate recounted:
JOHN HICKENLOOPER: I was 18 years old. And so I came home.... And I said, I promised — you know, I promised Jed that we would go to the movie theater and see this new movie. “Do you want to come?” And it's an X movie... and I was sure that she would say no. I made a mistake. And she said, "I'd love to go," because she didn't want to be left alone in the house again.
BASH: It was a pretty famous movie, too.
HICKENLOOPER: So I took my mother to see Deep Throat. And to her credit, the first scene is — I didn't ask the question. But I will tell you that — I will tell you that my mother -- my mother was -- I'm sure she was mortified. And I said repeatedly, I think we should leave, I think we should go. And my mother was the kind of person that rarely went to a movie. She thought almost every movie would get on TV. Obviously, not this one. But she was -- she really — when she paid, she was going to stay. And at the end, she knew that I was humiliated. And as we drove home — and you know how the dashboard in the old cars had the kind of green light, and I — you know, she — I asked her, I said, well, that was some experience. And she goes, she says, "Well, I thought the lighting was very good in the movie."
Now, that’s a story. Imagine if any Republican presidential candidate — not even mentioning Donald Trump — had blurted out such a tale. Think it would be a story? Hickenlooper appeared on the March 4 Good Morning America. The story (originally told in his 2016 book) didn’t come up.
A transcript is below. Click "expand" to read more.
CNN town hall
3/20/19
10:53 PM ET
BASH: We're back with Governor John Hickenlooper for our CNN Democratic presidential town hall. We have one more audience question. But before we get to that, we've been looking at your memoir, and you have a lot of interesting stories in that book. One of them is about the time you went to see an X-rated movie with your mother. You have the floor, sir.
HICKENLOOPER: Thank you so much for that question.
BASH: Any time.
HICKENLOOPER: I thought it was better to write a book to let people really see who you were and the dumb things you did, as well as the smart things.
BASH: And where is that on the spectrum?
HICKENLOOPER: On the dumb side.
BASH: Okay.
HICKENLOOPER: I was the youngest of four. And as I said, my dad died right after I turned 8. And my mother and I had a pretty tempestuous relationship. She was just the most amazing person.
And I went off to college, and for the first time, she was alone in the house. And I didn't realize how powerful that was until I got home at Thanksgiving, and I promised -- I called a friend in Philadelphia -- and these were -- I didn't know what an X movie was. We thought it was a little naughty, but we didn't think it was that bad. Again, you've got to understand, I was 18 years old. And so I came home. My mother hated to cook. I mean, she was just a strong, powerful woman who got stuff done in her own right. And I got home and she had this huge dinner laid out. And I said, I promised -- you know, I promised Jed that we would go to the movie theater and see this new movie. “Do you want to come?” And it's an X movie, I don't know -- you know, I just -- and she -- and I was sure that she would say no. I made a mistake. And she said, "I'd love to go," because she didn't want to be left alone in the house again.
BASH: It was a pretty famous movie, too.
HICKENLOOPER: So I took my mother to see Deep Throat. And to her credit, the first scene is — I didn't ask the question. But I will tell you that — I will tell you that my mother -- my mother was -- I'm sure she was mortified. And I said repeatedly, I think we should leave, I think we should go. And my mother was the kind of person that rarely went to a movie. She thought almost every movie would get on TV. Obviously, not this one. But she was -- she really -- when she paid, she was going to stay. And at the end, she knew that I was humiliated. And as we drove home -- and you know how the dashboard in the old cars had the kind of green light, and I -- you know, she -- I asked her, I said, well, that was some experience. And she goes, she says, "Well, I thought the lighting was very good in the movie."
