A Station for Everyone
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sen. Grassley Won't Opine on Trump's Comments on Four Congresswomen of Color, 4:32

07.17.19 432 

Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa is declining to directly answer whether he thinks President Donald Trump's comments toward four minority women in the U.S. House were racist.

Asked by reporters Wednesday about Trump's comments, Grassley repeated earlier remarks in which he called for civility among elected officials. Grassley says public officials should avoid name-calling and shouldn't question others' patriotism. Trump tweeted Sunday that four Democratic freshmen women of color should "go back" to their home countries. All are citizens and three are U.S. born.

Grassley also refused to comment on Iowa Rep. Steve King's criticism of Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who initially agreed the president's tweets were racist.

King, who has been removed from committee assignments as punishment for his own statements about race, tweeted Tuesday morning that Ernst shouldn't advance what he called Democrats' "fake news narrative" against Trump.

Emails show that the director of the Iowa Department of Human Services had an obsession with the late rapper Tupac Shakur during a 2-year tenure before the governor requested his resignation last month.

Jerry Foxhoven hosted weekly "Tupac Fridays" to listen to music in his office. He sent Tupac lyrics about love and change to inspire employees and he marked his own 65th birthday with Tupac-themed cookies.

While some employees praised his Tupac fixation, one complained to lawmakers last year. Reynolds surprised Foxhoven by telling him to resign one day after Foxhoven had emailed his employees asking them to celebrate Tupac's birthday.

A Reynolds spokesman says "a lot of factors" went into the decision to seek Foxhoven's resignation.

Related Content