GOP Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds delivered the Republican Address to the Nation following President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday. In her remarks, Reynolds discussed President Biden’s “runaway” inflation, ongoing illegal immigration crisis, disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, skyrocketing crime rates, and other failed policies.
Reynolds opened her remarks explaining how America sent athletes to the Olympics in Beijing, telling them to “not to speak out against China,” and how Russia’s unprovoked full-scale invasion into Ukraine was preceded by Biden waving sanctions on Russian pipelines and focusing on military “political correctness” instead of readiness.
“Weakness on the world stage has a cost, and the president’s approach to foreign policy has consistently been too little too late,” Reynolds said in her remarks. “It’s time for America to once again project confidence. It’s time to be decisive. It’s time to lead. But we can’t project strength abroad if we are weak at home.”
Reynolds then said the Democrats have either ignored or exasperated the issues plaguing everyday Americans. This included how the Biden administration raised gas prices and pushed inflation to a 40 year high.
“It’s the American people waiting to exhale. Waiting for the insanity to stop.”
Four decades ago, Reynolds noted, she was a “young working mom” who watched her daughters during the day and worked evenings at the local supermarket.
“From across that checkout counter, I saw the pain of inflation on my neighbor's faces. I saw what happens when prices rise faster than wages,” she recounted. “President Biden’s decisions have a whole new generation feeling that same pain.”
In her address, Reynolds noted that Democrat-controlled cities have seen an influx of crime while defunding the police and that hard working Americans are forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 while illegal immigrants crossing the border are not required to be vaccinated or show proof of a negative test.
“It seems like everything is backwards,” she noted. “The Department of Justice treats parents like domestic terrorists, but looters and shoplifters roam free. The American people are left to feel like they’re the enemy.”
“The president tried to paint a different picture tonight, but his actions over the last 12 months don’t match the rhetoric. It’s not what he promised when he took office,” she continued. “But it doesn’t need to be that way.”
Reynolds noted that Republican governors across the nation have led the way to promote family values, such as keeping parents in the loop on their children’s education, standing up for the unborn, and keeping communities safe and staffed with police.
She added that Republican lawmakers “honored your freedoms” during the pandemic and “saw right away that lockdowns and school closures came with their own significant cost.”
“Keeping schools open is only the start of the pro-parent, pro-family revolution that Republicans are leading in Iowa and states across this country,” she continued.
As for the border crisis, Reynolds noted that several Republican governors have “actually gone to the border – something that our president and vice president have yet to do since taking office.” In addition, she stated that 17 of the 20 states with lowest unemployment have Republican governors.
“Republicans may not have the White House, but we’re doing what we can to fill the leadership vacuum, and on the issues that are affecting Americans, Republicans are leading.”