March 29, 2024

Pointed questions greet Grassley, Ernst at public stops

GARNER (AP) — Iowa’s U.S. senators were met Tuesday with overflow crowds who pointedly questioned them about President Donald Trump’s actions during his first month in office and other issues.

Although Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst held meetings in small towns in northern and eastern Iowa, they drew big crowds. Considering that Trump carried Iowa by nearly 10 percentage points, the meetings were a noteworthy indication of the president’s opposition in the state.

“I’m so unsettled. It feels like we have a juvenile running our country,” a man told Grassley before asking if he would vote to impeach Trump.

Grassley, a seven-term senator, deflected the spirit of the question. Later, though, Grassley faced similar questions about whether he supported a joint House and Senate committee to investigate whether Trump and his campaign had communications with the Russian government before the election.

More than 100 people jammed into a basement room of the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department applauded the impeachment question and broke into a chant to hold the meeting outside, given the cramped quarters and overflow into the narrow hallway.

“I would not want to give him my opinion on impeachment because the Senate sits as a jury,” replied Grassley, who didn’t ask on what grounds Trump would be impeached.

It appeared that many people traveled quite a distance to attend the event in Garner, about 100 miles north of Des Moines. Cars from Polk, Story, Warren and other Des Moines area counties crowded the municipal parking lot.

They were encouraged by Democratic leaning groups, such as Progress Iowa.

Several people, including Janet Colton of Ames, accused Grassley of evading the essence of the questions. “It’s not just what the president is doing. It’s what your party is doing,” Colton shouted with exasperation.

Though at times heated, the Garner assembly was civil. When it ended, protesters thanked Grassley for coming and taking their questions.

In Maquoketa, the Telegraph Herald reported more than 100 came to hear Ernst but weren’t able to fit into the City Council chambers. Some of them chanted, “We want our voices heard.”

About 200 people made it into the meeting and raised issues ranging from climate change to health care.

Responding to criticism about Republicans’ desire to replace the Affordable Care Act despite uncertainty about a new plan, Ernst said GOP lawmakers were “working through a number of plans proposed out there.”