Just because you say something doesn’t make it true — even if the national media eat up the narrative.

I’m talking about the idea that Gov. Jared Polis is just a middle-of-the-road, “libertarian” Democrat.

It’s a false narrative, but one Fox News and The Wall Street Journal often parrot — probably because he’s the token Democrat to tout. The biggest purveyor, though, is Polis himself.

“I believe in freedom, competition, and limited government,” Polis tweeted on Jan. 21. The post featured an image of Colorado’s flag bearing big, bolded words: “FREEDOM. NOT BIG GOVERNMENT.”

He said so on social media, so it must be true. Right?

If only that were his actual record.

“Too often in Washington, we’re seeing the opposite — the government picking winners and losers, intruding into personal decisions, and putting politics between people, their doctors, and their livelihoods,” Polis continued. “That’s not small government, and it’s not the Colorado way.”

In no time, Polis got “ratioed.” Bigly.

By Sunday night, the post had only 90 likes and 92 retweets compared to 658 comments. Being ratioed, per Merriam-Webster, means a post is “tremendously unpopular.” I’d say so.

Colorado is the sixth most regulated state for business, according to the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. Nearly 45% of all rules are duplicative or redundant, but businesses must comply anyway. Every 10% increase in regulations costs 36,000 jobs and 9,000 firms — plus a 2% hit to economic growth.

The Gazette’s “Fiscal Rockies” series reported a “regulatory thicket… driving up costs, stalling investment and pushing companies to look elsewhere.” A Colorado Business Roundtable survey found senior executives’ top concern was regulations, followed by an “anti-business” climate.

“Nothing else comes close,” The Gazette noted in an editorial, observing the pattern “boils down to one root problem: too much government.”

Polis plays a courageous tax-cutter on TV, too. He’s called reducing income-tax rates “the most effective way to further our economic growth” and has endorsed eliminating Colorado’s income tax altogether.

Yet his musings come with clever caveats — like taxing “things we fundamentally don’t want” (i.e., pollution or carbon) to offset lost revenue. He never has called for actual tax-cut legislation, let alone legislation eliminating the income tax, and has simply endorsed conservative ballot measures to reduce the rate.

Then there’s the many “fees” passed by the Democratic legislature and dutifully signed by Polis — dodging TABOR’s requirement for voter approval of tax increases by slapping the “fee” label on them.

There’s the 10-cent bag fee Polis signed with the plastic bag ban in 2021. His SB260 that year added new “fees” to every Uber ride, Amazon package, UPS shipment and DoorDash delivery, plus a $5.23-a-day rental car fee and a new gas “fee” atop the gas tax.

Rather than maintain transportation infrastructure, the revenue goes toward electric vehicle charging stations, bike lanes and subsidies — leaving nary a retired penny for roads, bridges and highways.

In 2024, SB230 similarly manufactured new “fees” on energy producers for public transit, passenger rail and land remediation — adding costs to an oil and gas industry already burdened by the nation’s most stringent regulations under Polis-signed SB19-181.

Let’s be clear: Taxing people more — without voter approval, even by calling it a “fee” — sure isn’t small government “the Colorado way.”

Meanwhile, the Polis-appointed Public Utilities Commission recently adopted a “clean heat plan” forcing gas utilities to slash emissions 41% by 2035, nearly double the legislature’s original target. This will cost ratepayers billions, with estimates for retrofitting a single home to “all-electric” exceeding $20,000.

That’s just one piece of Polis’ net-zero by 2050 agenda, which picks “green energy” over reliable and affordable oil, gas and coal. So much for limited government staying out of people’s livelihoods.

“If you believe in limited government, why do you mandate the worst energy policy in the nation?” the Independence Institute’s Amy Cooke commented. “All you do is pick ‘winners and losers’ in the energy space.”

In fairness, Polis isn’t alone. President Trump was asked Thursday whether policies like federal government stakes in private companies or barring defense contractors from paying dividends or stock buybacks square with “free market capitalism.”

“It’s very free market,” Trump replied, without explanation. Again, saying something doesn’t make it true, but at least Trump doesn’t brand himself a libertarian.

Polis hasn’t been fiscally responsible, either. A few years ago, the state held a $3.6 billion surplus. Instead of putting that windfall to good use, Polis and the Legislature squandered it — leading to last year’s special session over an $800 million shortfall.

He’s scrambled consumer budgets by mandating “cage-free” eggs, trampled the Second Amendment with one of America’s strictest gun control laws, and embraced nanny-stater Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary.

Polis supports school choice, but he has undermined parental rights — signing laws like HB24-1039, which brands a school or teacher’s refusal to use a student’s chosen name and pronouns “discrimination,” even if parents disagree. And who could forget his pandemic restrictions?

In truth, Jared Polis’ tenure has been the antithesis of freedom, competition and limited government — defined instead by government control, expansion and picking winners and losers.

Does this sound like the legacy of a libertarian?

Jimmy Sengenberger is an investigative journalist, public speaker, and longtime local talk-radio host. Reach Jimmy online at Jimmysengenberger.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @SengCenter.