Bernie Sanders adds Cedar Rapids stop to Iowa trip

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders will hold a rally in Cedar Rapids next Friday in addition to an already announced appearance in Des Moines earlier that day.

The Vermont independent and 2016 Democratic candidate for president will headline a “Trump tax rally” sponsored by the Not One Penny advocacy group, which opposes the Republican-led tax reform package passed by Congress late last year.

The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Feb. 23 at the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Cedar Rapids. Earlier that day, Sanders will attend a rally with 3rd District congressional candidate Pete D’Alessandro in Des Moines.

The Cedar Rapids rally follows the release of Not One Penny TV ads criticizing Republican U.S. Reps. Rod Blum and David Young for their votes on the tax bill, which largely benefits wealthy taxpayers. The ads feature an Iowa baker calling for Blum and Young to repeal the law.

The six-figure buy will run in the Des Moines and Cedar Rapids markets during the Olympics, according to a statement from Not One Penny.

The event will mark Sanders’ second appearance in the state in 2018, and his fourth since the end of the 2016 campaign. He has been mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2020, raising the possibility that visits to Iowa now could be laying the groundwork for a future campaign.

View the TV ads here:

The National Republican Campaign Committee, the Congressional GOP campaign arm, took issue with the ads on Thursday, and specifically the claim that the new law "raises taxes on a majority of Americans."

Independent analyses, including one performed by Politifact, have refuted similar assertions and found most Americans will experience lower income taxes at least through 2027.

"Democrats already lost the messaging war on tax reform, and are now losing the fact war as well," NRCC spokeswoman Maddie Anderson said. "Not One Penny claiming that the tax bill 'raises taxes on the majority of Americans' is verifiably false. They should take this dishonest ad down.”