What we know and don't know about Victor Marx
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Victor Marx. Photo: Timothy Hurst/Denver Post via Getty Images
Victor Marx is an enigma. The claims about his life are hard to prove and stretch the imagination.
Why it matters: The Republican gubernatorial candidate's biography — and its veracity — is central to his campaign and whether voters will support him in November.
State of play: In a series of recent interviews, the 61-year-old from Colorado Springs talked about his past and attempted to sort fact from fiction. The interviews posted online have drawn millions of views.
Reality check: Here's what we know — and don't.
1. Marx says he suffered tremendous abuse as a child from his stepfather and others, including being sexually assaulted at age 5.
At age 3, Marx said, his stepfather forced him, with his stepfather's assistance, to behead a dead cat using a butcher knife. Marx said it was part of a voodoo ritual conducted by his stepfather, and he disputed claims he had to wear the decapitated head on his own head.
At age 7, he claims, he was forced to shoot a man at the behest of his stepfather. Marx says he didn't pull the trigger — his stepfather did — and the unidentified man was buried under the floorboards of a house in Simpson County, Mississippi.
- The candidate said he reported the killing to the local sheriff's department, but the agency says it had no record of the incident.
The intrigue: Asked by 9News how many people he's killed, Marx responded: "Does it matter?"
Between the lines: Marx says he changed his name from Vaughn Victor Kennedy, which used the surname of his abusive stepfather, to Vaughn Victor Marx after reconciling with his birth father, Karl Marx.
2. Marx says he is a born-again Christian and often points to his faith as his guiding principle.
At the center of his work, he can summon and cast off demons, including over the phone, he claims. The practice resembles exorcism, but Marx calls it prayer, saying only Catholic priests can perform exorcisms.
- He also credits prayer and 123 visits to a trauma therapist with curing his depression and ultra-rapid cycling bipolar II, conditions he said cause him to have homicidal thoughts.
3. He served in the military for three years.
His campaign provided documents showing he was honorably discharged and served as a high-frequency communications operator.
He wrote in his 2010 book, "The Victor Marx Story: With God, All Things Are Possible," that he enlisted to avoid being arrested for shoplifting from a men's clothing store where he worked.
In at least one instance, he exaggerated his service, the Colorado Sun reported. He claimed in his book that he decided to switch to a different helicopter at the last second, and the first one crashed, killing all aboard. He called it a sign from God.
- Yes, but: No such record exists of the helicopter he identified, a CH-46, crashing. He now says it was a 1986 crash of a CH-53 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California. It killed four of the five people on board, the Sun found.
4. Marx calls his nonprofit work "high-risk humanitarianism."
The nonprofit, All Things Possible Ministries, has operated in Iraq and Syria, providing trauma relief and fighting child trafficking. Now it's offering support to law enforcement officers.
His campaign website once said he helped rescue more than 45,000 women and children, but he now acknowledges that number is wrong and blamed an independent contractor for the error. It was removed from his website.
- He won't disclose how many people he's helped, citing security reasons and saying it's "more than one and less than a bunch."
Marx also claimed at one point to have called in a missile strike that killed 70 ISIS fighters. He now says that's not true but contends he provided intelligence about the locations of ISIS fighters and the U.S. military responded on their own.
5. Marx is a first-time candidate but not new to politics.
- He says he was a mentor to the late Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit. Kirk called Marx a friend and spiritual mentor and wrote the foreword to Marx's 2024 book, "The Dangerous Gentleman," the campaign says.
- Marx's gubernatorial bid is endorsed by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and drew support from retired Army lieutenant general Mike Flynn. But he's opposed by other major GOP figures, including former party chair Dick Wadhams.
The fine print: The Marx campaign has declined Axios' multiple requests for an interview with the candidate, saying "99% of the media has been unfavorable" to him.