President Joe Biden is sending America back in time, leading the country in a regression that has resulted in a national crime wave, soaring inflation, and another staredown with Russia, a leading Republican, said Tuesday night.
In a biting retort to Biden’s State of the Union address, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds laced the traditional Republican response with scorching criticism that blamed the president for moving the country backward.
“Instead of moving America forward, it feels like President Biden and his party have sent us back in time to the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when runaway inflation was hammering families, a violent crime wave was crashing on our cities, and the Soviet army was trying to redraw the world map,” Reynolds said.
The rising GOP star also hit Biden on his administration’s handling of Afghanistan, North Korea, and China and denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “an attack on democracy, freedom and the rule of law.”
Reynolds also blamed Biden for other foreign policy failures.
“The disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal did more than cost American lives,” she said. “It betrayed our allies and emboldened our enemies.”
Reynolds used her moment on the Republican stage to hammer Biden and his party on inflation for everything from bigger grocery store bills to more pain at the gas pump.
“I watched working people choosing which essentials to take home and which ones to leave behind at the register,” Reynolds said. “And now President Biden’s decisions have a whole new generation feeling that same pain.”
Reynolds also touched on coronavirus restrictions, patting herself on the back for moves that made Iowa “the first state in the nation to require that schools open their doors.”
Reynolds, 62, has consistently denounced mask mandates. She has said that federal pandemic relief has contributed to inflation and workforce issues.
She required Iowa schools to offer in-person learning throughout most of the pandemic and rejected $95 million in federal funding for COVID testing in schools.
Last spring, she triggered a civil rights investigation from the Biden administration for banning schools from requiring masks.
“I was attacked by the left; I was attacked by the media,” Reynolds said of her decision to reopen schools. “But it wasn’t a hard choice. It was the right choice. Republicans believe that parents matter.”
Reynolds led a chorus of Republicans who called Biden weak and indecisive.
“Weakness invites aggression,” said U.S. Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, a top Republican on the Foreign Affairs committee. “Putin sees weakness. President Xi sees weakness. The Ayatollah sees weakness. And Kim Jong Un sees weakness. We have a weak president. And he’s creating a very dangerous world.”
