Iowa’s Chuck Grassley: Trump trial is a ‘political lynching’

Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley on Wednesday called the New York hush money trial of former President Donald Trump a "political lynching" and said it would hurt Democrats politically.

Though he criticized the legal challenges Trump is facing, Grassley told reporters he had not been closely following the trial that began late last month. He said he was spending time in meetings and voting in Washington and holding town halls in Iowa.

"I think you're seeing that whatever the Democrats were trying to accomplish by prosecuting in four different ways former President Trump is kind of backfiring on them," Grassley said. "And I think I see it as a political lynching."

Grassley said he used the term "taking the words from Justice (Clarence) Thomas when he was before the United States Senate for his hearings" in 1991. Trump took criticism in 2019 for using the term "lynching" — which is connected to historical extrajudicial killings of Black Americans — to refer to his first impeachment trial.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in November, faces 34 felony counts in New York state court over allegations he falsified business records before the 2016 election to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels in exchange for her silence over her story of a sexual encounter with him years earlier.

He is also facing felony charges in Georgia and at the federal level over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He has been indicted on separate federal charges alleging he mishandled classified documents after leaving office.

Several Republicans, including Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, have visited the New York courtroom to show support for Trump. Grassley said he had no plans to attend.

"My life is pretty much Washington, D.C., or Iowa, representing Iowa. It's a full-time job," he said. "I can tell you this. The election is going to be about policy, Biden, border issues."

On Monday, Bird visited the New York trial to show her support for Trump and to witness the court proceedings. A campaign spokesperson later said she was invited by the Republican Attorneys General Association, which financed the trip.

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart criticized Bird's appearance at the trial. “Even more so, Iowan’s deserve an Attorney General that’s focused on serving her constituents — not her political ambitions,” Hart said in a statement.

Joni Ernst: Trump trial is backfiring on Democrats

Iowa's other U.S. senator, Republican Joni Ernst, said she believed the trial will increase, rather than hurt, Trump's support.

In an appearance on the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio, Ernst said Iowa voters she talks to are not following the trial day-to-day. She said they do not believe the charges being made against Trump, which makes them want to defend him more.

"What they see is the left coming after our former president because they don't want to see him be president again," she said. "So in their eyes, it is all political. And that's the way I view it."

Erin Murphy of The Gazette Des Moines Bureau contributed to this report.