Freshman Republican State Rep. Mark Cisneros did not hold back Thursday morning as he addressed about 400 Iowans who showed up at the Capitol to rally against vaccine mandates.
Cisneros said people tell others the Capitol is run on fear, but it should be fear of the people.
“But it’s not,” he said. “The state of Iowa has been under a lot of pressure for the last year and a half, two years now with all the terrible things that have happened through fear. Somebody needs to remind the Republican Party that we have a super majority in this state. There is absolutely no reason we should be in this situation where you have to come back again and again.”
He told the crowd he did not work hard to get to Des Moines so he could be part of the “kabuki theater.”
“This is a failure of leadership in Iowa,” Cisneros said. “Unless there is some significant change in this bill that we might be proposing today, I will be a no.”
In addition, Cisneros said Iowans must “prepare to primary.”
“Some of you elected Iowa nice, and that’s fine, invite them over for dinner. But don’t invite them into this house,” he said. “This building counts on your short memory. They will tell you how much they’re fighting for you. But here we are, in this situation, so it doesn’t make sense. I can’t continue to lie to people or cover for people in my position, so be encouraged because this is the people’s house and, as long as we continue to show up, we will make a difference.”
