The Register's editorial

During a January rally in Sioux Center, Donald Trump said he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” and not lose voters. The GOP presidential nominee was apparently right about the unshakable loyalty of some supporters. Are there any limits to Gov. Terry Branstad's loyalty? It seems the candidate can say or do anything — demean women, encourage violence, mock disabled people — and Iowa’s governor remains a devoted fan.

Consider some of Trump’s remarks during the Sept. 26 debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. "That's called business," Trump said in response to allegations he "rooted for the housing crisis" because it would financially benefit him. When accused of not paying a cent of federal income tax, the candidate said that makes him smart.

While many Americans were reeling from the candidate’s arrogance, Branstad issued a statement saying Trump “spoke from the heart during tonight’s debate and showed us the type of president he will be — a strong leader with serious plans to create millions of new jobs, confront radical Islamic terror, and take care of our nation’s veterans.”

Does that include the veterans Trump a few days later said commit suicide because they “can’t handle” the post-traumatic stress of war? And perhaps Iowa’s governor could explain how a businessman who declared losses of nearly a billion dollars in a single year and has repeatedly been accused of shortchanging and stiffing contractors will create jobs.

Granted, it is difficult to keep up with all the controversies surrounding Trump: The bankruptcies. The questions about dodging taxes. The New York attorney general ordering Trump’s foundation to stop fundraising because it is not in compliance with state law. The remarks about weight gain of a former beauty pageant contestant. Middle-of-the-night tweet storms. Video of him flailing his arms and jostling to imitate Clinton during her bout with pneumonia.

Yet Iowa’s governor, who would likely never himself engage in such antics, doesn’t seem the least bit offended by any of it. Branstad remains a defender even when it makes him a hypocrite.

During a press conference Monday, Branstad dismissed Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns as a personal matter that voters don’t want to talk about. However, a poll in August by Quinnipiac University found 74 percent of voters, including a solid majority of Republicans, thought the documents should be public.

Meanwhile, Branstad is the same man who criticized his 2014 opponent, real estate developer Jack Hatch, for releasing just one year of tax returns. Hatch’s earnings and taxes are “information the public should have a right to know,” the governor said at the time.

Branstad also attempted to put lipstick on recent news that Trump may have avoided paying taxes for two decades. In fact, he reiterated almost verbatim a recent tweet from the candidate portraying himself as best qualified to reform the tax code because he has gamed it. “Probably he’s the best one to fix it because he knows where the problems are,” said the governor.

Perhaps the governor doesn't realize the "fixes" Trump has proposed would further cut taxes for high-income people, leaving less money to fund health care, roads, schools, veterans and flood relief.

The governor must realize that his campaign made an election issue of disclosures that his 1982 gubernatorial opponent, Roxanne Conlin, also used breaks to pay little income tax. Some Branstad supporters wore buttons that read “I paid more taxes than Roxanne.”

Of course Iowans may well be paying more income taxes than Trump. And our governor may think that makes us not very smart.