A MAGA Republican in Colorado held a press conference on Wednesday to push a controversial bill he's sponsoring, but video shows the event didn't go as planned. Jesse Paul, political reporter at The Colorado Sun, shared video of a press conference organized by Scott Bottoms, a MAGA state lawmaker in Colorado who is sponsoring a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state. Multiple hospitals in Colorado have already said they will not provide such care after the Trump administration threatened to withhold funding from hospitals that perform gender-affirming procedures. Video of the event shows there were fewer than five attendees at Bottoms' press conference, and one of them was Paul. Bottoms made headlines recently for claiming, without evidence, that there is a pedophile ring being run out of the Colorado State Capitol. Bottoms was confronted by local journalist Kyle Clark at the statehouse about his claims, and Bottoms denied ever making them. Clark played a video on his show, "Next with Kyle Clark," of Bottoms making the claim during a fundraiser. Paul reported on Wednesday that Bottoms said he would take questions during the press conference, but ended the event without taking any. He also did not provide any backup for his pedophilia claims, Paul reported. Turnout for state Rep. Scott Bottoms news conference on his bill to ban gender-affirming surgery for kids and his claims that there are pedophile rings at the Colorado Capitol. Bottoms is running for governor and has declared himself the front runner. #copolitics #coleg pic.twitter.com/Dr4JrO934a— Jesse Aaron Paul ☀ (@JesseAPaul) February 18, 2026