'This is a war': Lindsey Graham fires up Iowa Republicans against Democrats

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham fired up a crowd of Republicans Friday night by praising President Donald Trump's appointment of conservative judges and warning Democrats that impeaching the president would "blow up in their face."

The Republican from South Carolina was the keynote speaker at the Republican Party of Iowa's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner, a fundraiser that drew about 550 Republicans to the Marriott Hotel in downtown Des Moines at a price of $100 for a general admission ticket, or $150 for a VIP ticket.

Graham called the House impeachment inquiry into Trump "a joke" and said Democrats aren't looking for the truth.

"From the time Donald Trump gets up to the time he goes to bed they’ve been trying to destroy his presidency," Graham said. "They don’t accept the fact he won. They hate what you stand for. And this is a war. This is a war and it’s a war worth fighting. So here’s what I think. I think impeachment is going to blow up in their face."

Republicans accuse Democrats of 'Soviet-era' politics

Graham painted a dire picture of what the United States would look like under a Democratic president, tying the Democratic field to policies that many of them don't actually support.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these people are crazy. They’re going to take your health care away from you and give it free to an illegal immigrant," Graham said. "They’re going to have open borders. They’re going to fundamentally change the way the economy works where the Soviet Union would look like a capitalist model."

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa's junior senator who is up for re-election in 2020, sounded a similar note. She criticized U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a Democratic presidential candidate who is campaigning in Iowa with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday and Saturday.

"They are taking us back in time to Soviet-era politics where we had socialist propaganda, socialist ideals that were promoted," she said. "And you know what folks, that’s not what America was built on."

The only thing standing in the way of that America, Graham warned, are Republicans like those in the room Friday night.

"I'm going to make a prediction," he said. "I think Donald Trump is going to kick their ass."

Graham praises Grassley on Kavanaugh fight

"Two words: Supreme Court," Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said, introducing U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley as the crowd rose to their feet in applause.

Grassley, Iowa's senior senator, chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Graham, the current Judiciary Committee chair, recounted the battle over Kavanaugh's confirmation as the future justice faced allegations of sexual misconduct from when he was a teenager and young adult. Graham suggested Democrats were going to great lengths to torpedo Kavanaugh's nomination and said Grassley stopped them.

"What Chuck stood up to was a mob. What Joni stood up to was a mob trying to intimidate us to back down. It was relentless, it came from every corner and President Trump to his great credit stood behind this good man," Graham said.

To farmers hurt in trade war, Graham says: 'Just be patient'

To Iowa farmers hurt by Trump's tariff war with China, Graham had a message: "Just be patient. Trump's got to do this."

"If we don’t bring the Chinese communist party to heel and make them play by the rules, they will cheat us all out of our way of life. So to the Iowa farmer: Hang in there. It’s going to get better. And without you hanging in there it won’t get better," he said to the receptive audience.

Ernst also spoke about her efforts to get the Trump administration to restore demand for ethanol that has been destroyed by waivers the administration has given to oil refineries to avoid blending it into their fuel.

She addressed comments that Trump made Thursday saying that Ernst pesters him relentlessly on ethanol.

"Yes folks, it’s my job to be relentless when it comes to Iowa, and I will be," she said.

While Ernst criticized U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Andrew Wheeler for "that little switcheroo" in the EPA's deal to restore ethanol demand, she praised Trump — a strategy many Republicans have employed.

"He is really great to work with folks, and I cannot overstate that enough. He is great to work with," she said.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

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