Republican Party of Iowa chairman Jeff Kaufmann had a media call Thursday afternoon after the third U.S. Senate Democrat debate of the week wrapped up a bit earlier. His entire focus was placed on Theresa Greenfield.
“It’s a rare opportunity to see (Greenfield) outside of Chuck Schumer’s windowless basement,” Kaufmann said. “She’s proven to us all she can take orders, the only problem is she’s taking the orders not from Iowans but from a New York Senator that’s telling her to stay in the basement and not be heard.”
Kaufmann referenced video of Greenfield tripping over her words in an attempt to answer questions about foreign policy. He also said she continues to fib and deceive voters.
“Regardless of whether we continue to keep asking, keep asking, keep asking, at some point in time after she’s anointed this nomination, which we’ve known from the beginning,” Kaufmann said. “I’ll be honest with you folks, in preparing for this 2020 election, unless I would’ve watched this debate today, I don’t know that I could’ve named the other people.
“When Chuck Schumer said she’s got the nomination, then she had the nomination. I would just challenge all of you on here to contrast that with the 2014 Republican Primary when we had an open Senate seat.”
Five Republicans ran for that seat, but none of them were “ordained” by anyone from D.C. or Des Moines, according to Kaufmann. It shows the difference between the parties in terms of respect for openness and grassroots activism.
Greenfield’s biggest lie has been she isn’t taking a dime in corporate PAC money, Kaufmann said.
“We know better than that. There is no difference except for complying with some of the laws,” he said. “She’s found a loophole.”
Greenfield, he said, has received $6 million from Schumer’s corporate-funded PAC.
“She’s supposedly this big, brave, standing-on-the-mountain saying ‘I’m not taking corporate PAC money,’” Kaufmann said. “She doesn’t have to for crying out loud! She’s got a New York Senator as long as she does what she’s told and spews his talking points, he is going to spend as much money as it takes.”
Kaufmann said his issue isn’t whether or not she takes corporate money, it is that she’s not being honest.
“If she’s going to fib this starkly and she’s going to look everybody in the face and put on her commercials that she’s not taking any corporate PAC money, you don’t think that that’s a sign of what’s to come,” he asked. “We all know that. My point here is hypocrisy.”
Kaufmann finished by highlighting Greenfield’s mistake during the week when she claimed Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer were the first women from Iowa elected to Congress.
“Look, even if you don’t like Joni Ernst, you don’t like Joni Ernst’s ideas, how in the world could you be in 2020 politics and forget that Joni Ernst is the first female elected to Congress from Iowa,” he said. “I can’t believe that’s an oversight. If it’s an oversight, boy, she’s speaking the Biden language very well – that’s for sure.
“I see nothing in these three that have shown me that she’s quite ready to leave the windowless basement and have Chuck Schumer have her fly on her own out of the New York nest right here in the Hawkeye State.”
