Tuesday night, Gov. Kim Reynolds gave the Republican rebuttal to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
She mostly filled that rebuttal with national GOP talking points, which a lot of Democrats jumped on as they reacted to her speech.
Governor Reynolds is not speaking to the American People — she's speaking to her conservative base.
— Zach Wahls (@ZachWahls) March 2, 2022
Wahls is the Democratic leader for the Iowa Senate.
The speech was less focused on Iowa or what she’s done in the state, and more on attacking the Biden Administration for problems it didn’t create—like inflation—and for sending recovery money to states—which Iowa has used.
While @KimReynoldsIA brags, remember that the funding for cleaning up Iowa’s water, building out our broadband infrastructure, and addressing the housing shortage came from the work @RepCindyAxne and @POTUS did.
— Iowa Democrats (@iowademocrats) March 2, 2022
So we’re like 30 seconds in to the Reynolds speech and it’s clear the unity portion of the evening is over.
— Rep. Jennifer Konfrst (@KonfrstForHouse) March 2, 2022
Hearing the Governor claim @POTUS is giving away tax breaks to millionaires on the day she did just that is, well, something.
— Rep. Jennifer Konfrst (@KonfrstForHouse) March 2, 2022
Konfrst is the Democratic leader in the Iowa House.
Our GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds talked a lot about education "choice", but failed to mention that she's threatening to ban books and punish teachers in the classroom.
— Deidre DeJear (@DeidreDeJear) March 2, 2022
DeJear is running against Reynolds for governor.
Others also focused on different policies Reynolds mentioned and how she has handled them in Iowa.
.@IAGovernor says she’s putting Iowans back to work. The truth? She’s shoving Iowans into lower paying jobs by denying their earned unemployment benefits. All while doubling down tax cuts for corporations & the rich that will continue the #ReynoldsWorkforceCrisis. #CorporateKim
— Progress Iowa (@ProgressIowa) March 2, 2022
The Democratic Governor’s Association also offered a response to Reynolds, with a focus on how her leadership has impacted Iowa in the years she’s been governor.
While Kim Reynolds addresses the nation tonight, she continues to fail Iowans.
She’s supported massive tax breaks to big corporations while trying to strip away taxpayer dollars from public schools — making it harder for teachers, kids, and parents to get back on track.
— Democratic Governors (@DemGovs) March 2, 2022
Gov. Reynolds also opposed critical economic relief from the American Rescue Plan for small businesses and workers — only to hypocritically try to take credit the moment that same money started making life better for Iowa families.
— Democratic Governors (@DemGovs) March 2, 2022
Gov. Reynolds may repeat a bunch of partisan talking points tonight, but the reality is that her disastrous agenda is focused on defunding public schools and leaving families behind.
— Democratic Governors (@DemGovs) March 2, 2022
All in all, the consensus of many was that Reynolds’ speech was bland, didn’t sell Republican policy priorities, and focused too much on division.
The reviews are in from @KimReynoldsIA's #SOTU response: pic.twitter.com/f787FcaM9U
— Progress Iowa (@ProgressIowa) March 2, 2022
Nikoel Hytrek
03/1/22