Grassley: The full video from last week's town hall
Mods: The folks at blogforiowa.com let me post this video and the comments that go with it:
Grassley At Town Hall: Trump Is “Not Above The Law”
Posted on March 26, 2025 by Trish Nelson
You’ve probably seen several so-called “highlight” videos of what happened at Senator Grassley’s Hampton town hall last Friday including these I posted here. The internet likes short videos, reels and memes. This is part of the problem of getting our news from the internet, whatever platform you follow, instead of newspapers.
Highlights are useful. But often, viewing a few “highlights” can cause one to think that whatever is in the highlight is the most important thing that occurred. So we think we don’t need to watch the entire event. But often I have found that highlights, like movie trailers, are the least interesting and sometimes least important thing that happened.
As much as possible we should try to get information directly by seeing it with our own eyes and ears rather than trusting media to tell us what the most important or interesting thing was, including internet sources that are trustworthy.
I’m not knocking regular news organizations and progressive media. Click bait and short attention spans are a real thing and we all operate according to the current landscape rules and practices, and that means short and catchy.
It still remains that some of the best and most newsworthy moments can be seen only by watching an entire event rather than a short highlight. For example, congressional hearings, speeches, town halls. The Grassley town hall is a great example of this and credit to The Des Moines Register for recording and posting the entire official event on YouTube. Please support newspapers!
In the Grassley town hall, several exchanges stick in my mind as significant. These conversations between constituents and Senator Grassley took a little longer than what would fit in a short video reel, but in my view were major news moments that have so far gone unreported, at least in my sphere of information.
A retired educator asked Grassley if he knew what his oath of office says. Grassley said he couldn’t recall it. Shouldn’t this be headline news? Particularly in our current situation? I haven’t seen it being reported. Please let me know if you have. She then reads the oath of office to Grassley. Watch as Grassley raises his hand while she reads him his oath of office as if he is taking the oath then and there.
“I solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.” (45:00)
A constituent gets Grassley to admit that Trump is not above the law. Grassley tried to avoid saying it, but the man was persisitant. (23:30)
Constituent: “I’m going to repeat the question to you. Why do you feel that President Trump is above the law?”
Grassley: “He’s not above the law.”
What if the media were reporting this everywhere? What if all the cable news talking heads were talking about Trump loyalist Chuck Grassley acknowledging that Trump is not above the law? Trump wants to be above the law and a MAGA Republican in a public town hall before a room full of constituents stood up to Trump (albeit not intending to) by declaring publicly Trump is not above the law. Maybe it’s just me but that is newsworthy.
Grassley voluntarily pointed out to the room of Iowans angry about the closing of the Dept. of Education, that he was the only member of congress still in congress now who voted AGAINST establishing the Department of Education in 1979. And he didn’t stop there. He went on to say that he would vote the same way today. (5:08)
Grassley’s answer to what he is doing to defend democracy. (16:00)
Constituent: “What are you going to do and what are you doing to save democracy?”
Grassley turned away to point to another questioner and the crowd yelled, “answer the question.. then began chanting, “answer. answer. answer.” but Grassley moved onto another questioner and of course, did not answer the question.
If there are more town hall meetings, more of a coordinated effort would be good with Republians who are well rehearsed at avoiding questions.
If you watch this video in its entirety and come across something new that you haven’t previously seen in a highlight, please let us know in the comments.
(1 hour):