Grant Rodgers

grodgers@dmreg.com

CHARLES CITY, Ia. — Anxieties about a host of issues voiced at Sen. Charles Grassley's town hall meeting here largely boiled down to one theme: Will Iowa's Republican senior senator act as a check on a unconventional president?

Members of an overflow crowd stuffed into a district courtroom to question Grassley for an hour on Thursday morning, many probing for his reaction to controversial statements and stances of President Donald Trump and his new administration. "Free press" and "respect for truth" were shouted by audience members as Grassley asked what topics people wanted to discuss at the outset.

"I was going to ask about gun control and what you're going to do about that," said a woman who asked one of the earliest questions. "But I think more important ... I would like you to respond to how you're dealing with (the president's) lies and the attacks on the press."

Grassley praised the media as essential watchdogs of the government. It is "not legitimate" to describe journalists as enemies of the American people, as Trump did on Twitter earlier this month, he said. But Grassley also suggested the motives of some journalists in the Washington, D.C., "establishment" should be questioned.

"When 93 percent of the Washington journalist establishment said that they voted Democrat, I think you could question the bias of the people," he said.

Grassley communications manager Jill Gerber cited a Washington Post article about a 2013 study from two Indiana University professors when asked by a reporter for clarification of that statistic following the event. The study found that Democrats outnumber Republicans four to one among journalists who do claim a party affiliation, but also that a growing number of reporters consider themselves political independents.

Other topics came up repeatedly, including the GOP-backed plan to repeal and replace Obamacare and the confirmation of school choice advocate and Republican donor Betsy DeVos as education secretary. Tahmyrah Lytle, an organizer from Mason City, told Grassley that redirecting public money to private schools would "endanger" rural communities in Iowa.

Grassley said he supported DeVos based partly on a tradition of deference that senators give to new presidents assembling their "team."

"Don't you believe the team should be qualified?" Lytle asked. DeVos, a Michigan businesswoman, never worked in public schooling or education before taking the job.

"Well, then we would not have (Rex) Tillerson being secretary of state," Grassley responded, referencing the former Exxon Mobile CEO who also joined the administration with no previous government experience.

"Right!" one person said immediately. The crowd laughed and several broke into applause, while Grassley said the most important aspect of presidential appointments is finding someone "who can do the job." Grassley also told Lytle that DeVos will spend money as Congress directs her and that education decisions typically have to be made by local governments.

"She can't do anything about Charles City having a high school," he said, offering a hypothetical. "Because only the voters of Charles City can make the determination if you're going to join someplace else or close the school down or anything else. She doesn't have anything to do with that."

Although most of the audience who asked questions confronted Grassley with their criticisms of Trump and Republican leadership, Charles City resident Debra Uetz said she came to show support for the senator.

Uetz, a conservative Republican, praised Grassley for his controversial decision to oppose the appointment of Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court after the death last year of Justice Antonin Scalia. "He's been right out there with our interests, and we should appreciate that," said Uetz.

At a few points, Grassley asked the audience not to interrupt each other and let speakers finish.

"I really am embarrassed to be a United States citizen with what this country is doing," Charles City resident Carrie Larson told Grassley after delivering a four-minute denouncement of the Obamacare repeal efforts, money in politics and Trump's stances toward immigrants who are in the country illegally. "Because of Donald Trump and what he's done."

Several in the audience booed at Larson, 56, who wore a white Bernie Sanders sweatshirt and a baseball cap emblazoned with the Obama "O" logo. Grassley cut Larson off momentarily and asked jeering members of the audience to let her finish speaking.

"I hope that whether you're a Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative, I hope that we're going to be Iowa nice and respect each others' opinions," he said. "So let her finish." ​