116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Trump, in Cedar Rapids, decries federal investigations, calling them ‘a disgrace’
‘If you say something about an election, they want to put you in jail for the rest of your life.’
Jul. 18, 2023 8:11 pm, Updated: Jul. 19, 2023 7:31 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — Former President Donald Trump made light of his mounting legal troubles and continued his relentless, unproven claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and stolen during a visit to Cedar Rapids Tuesday.
“I didn’t know practically what a subpoena was and grand juries and all of this,” Trump said Tuesday evening during a stop at the monthly meeting of the Linn County Republican Party after taping a town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in downtown Cedar Rapids.
“Now, I’m like becoming an expert. I have no choice. It’s a disgrace,” Trump told about 170 people squeezed into the Elks Lodge on the city’s southwest side. “If you say something about an election, they want to put you in jail for the rest of your life. It’s a disgrace.”
Trump said Tuesday in a post on his Truth Social platform that he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of the Justice Department’s investigation into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, an indication that he could soon be indicted by federal prosecutors.
“So they want to cheat on an election, but if somebody wants to question the cheating, they want to call you a conspiracy theorist and all these other things,” Trump told the crowd of Linn County Republicans, calling special counsel Jack Smith “deranged.”
The former president’s claims have been continually disproved, as dozens of postelection ballot reviews and failed lawsuits across the country have showed time and again that there was no widespread election fraud in 2020.
Asked about news of the Justice Department’s investigation of Trump, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told reporters during a news conference Tuesday at the state Capitol in Des Moines:
“You know, I haven't had a chance to look at that, my team was just telling me about that. We have been focused on this [news conference] and other things all day. I'm not entirely surprised by what's happening. It seems to be a pattern of what we see coming out of this administration, but you know I haven't had a chance to even look at it.”
Trump also took aim at President Joe Biden and his administration for unwinding his immigration policies, including the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico for hearings in U.S. immigration court.
“Millions of people are pouring in unchecked,” Trump said. “Drugs are pouring in.”
After two years of record crossings and crisis-level strains, the Biden administration reported a 70 percent drop in unlawful entries at the southern border in the month since the Title 42 pandemic-era asylum restrictions expired, from May 12 to June 2.
Biden's critics, though, continue to depict his border policies as too permissive — geared more toward accommodating mass migration than deterrence.
The Trump administration adopted a strict border policy, which allowed border agents to immediately expel millions of migrants on public health grounds. The Biden administration instead has focused its efforts on revamping the asylum process that pairs tough consequences for unlawful entry with an expansion of lawful pathways and processes for migrants to enter the United States.
The White House in May returned to an expedited removal processes under Title 8, which allows the government to remove from the country anyone unable to establish a legal claim for asylum. Removal under Title 8 also bans these migrants from the country for five years.
Trump criticizes rival DeSantis on ethanol stance
Trump also criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — the former president’s top primary rival — for opposing a federal program supporting the ethanol industry.
“Look, I saved ethanol,” he said.
Trump also accused DeSantis of supporting raising the minimum age for Social Security benefits.
During his 2012 campaign for Congress, DeSantis expressed support for restructuring Social Security and Medicare, which aid millions of seniors in the United States, to make them more financially sustainable.
While in Congress, DeSantis voted on non-binding budget resolutions that called for raising the retirement age and slowing the growth of future spending.
Since then, he's said the GOP wouldn't "mess with" Social Security.
Trump also boasted of sweeping tax cuts that he signed into law in 2017, and touted trade policies he argues have been a boon for America’s farmers.
Democrats’ Hart: ‘Iowans did not prosper’ under Trump
Ahead of Trump’s town hall Tuesday, Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart issued the following statement:
“If we look at the facts, Iowans did not prosper under the Donald Trump administration. From the worst jobs record of any modern president to the effects his trade war had on our farmers, Trump consistently put Iowans last. No matter what he says tonight, Trump can’t run away from his disastrous record in Iowa.”
The U.S. economy fared well during the first three years of Trump's presidency. The unemployment rate hit a 50-year low, income growth doubled and he continued an economic expansion that grew into the longest in American history. Then the coronavirus spread, creating a pandemic and economic recession.
Trump signed the largest relief package in U.S. history to protect workers and families from the economic fallout from COVID-19. Trump, though, left office with 3 million fewer jobs than when he was inaugurated in 2017, as a sputtering economic recovery turned negative, marking the worst presidential job record since the Great Depression.
Trump supporters, critics turn out in downtown Cedar Rapids
Of the news that broke Tuesday morning that Trump received a letter notifying him he’s the target of a Justice Department probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Mary Smith, of Des Moines, laughed and said “they’re going to hassle him the entire damn time.”
She was in downtown Cedar Rapids with her golden retriever, Joy, and said she plans to support Trump in 2024, as she did in 2016 and 2020.
“I’d love for him to be able to do his job and not constantly be fighting lawsuits and investigations that never should have happened,” Smith said.
After attending the Fox News town hall, Keith Penning, of Cedar Rapids, said Trump discussed how “it's a two-tiered justice system, not one justice system for everyone.”
“I think they're treating him differently than they're treating the current president,” Penning said. “They're treating him differently than they did Hillary (Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee). He's just on the enemy list.”
In the town hall, Keith Penning said Trump discussed closing the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration, getting the U.S. economy back on track and promoted energy independence, quoting the "drill, baby, drill" refrain — a statement of support for more drilling for petroleum and gas as energy sources.
Before the town hall began, Robert Rathke, of Bolingbrook, Illinois, stood clad in trump gear from head-to-toe outside the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in downtown Cedar Rapids.
Rathke ventured to Cedar Rapids to support Trump, “To let him know that the people are with him and we’re trying to get him reelected and get the country back in order.”
Rathke said the news of the investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election bolsters his support for Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
“Witch hunt — it's a scam, and if anything, it makes me want to support him more, because I'm sick of how the government's run,” Rathke said. “I'm sick of the FBI, I'm sick of the CIA — how everything is one-sided and people don't stand up. Everything's gonna collapse. So I support him more because of that.”
The line of Trump supporters stretched from the doors of the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel and around the corner onto Second Street SE, stretching toward Interstate 380. A couple of protesters lingered nearby.
Barb Ferris, of Cedar Rapids, stood on the corner of First Avenue E and Third Street SE with a sign that read “LOCK Trump up!!! Hillary was right Trump is dangerously unfit” on one side and “Fox lies and spreads disinformation” on the other.
Ferris said she finds the conspiracy theories Trump supporters believe concerning, including that the 2020 election was stolen. She said she feared for the future of her children and grandchildren with civil rights are under attack as a result of GOP policies.
“Trump destroyed the country four years ago and if he gets in again, I can’t even imagine what’s going to happen with this country,” Ferris said. “It’s unbelievable that these people don’t believe facts … It’s all his lies and they regurgitate it.”
Marissa Payne, Liam Halawith and Erin Murphy, of The Gazette, contributed to this article.
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