Name: Joni Ernst to President Trump: Accept the Republican nomination in Des Moines, not the White House
Brand: desmoinesregister.com
SKU: desmoinesregister-com-147
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Joni Ernst to President Trump: Accept the Republican nomination in Des Moines, not the White House

preview

Des Moines RegisterView CommentsU.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Thursday that President Donald Trump should not accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination from the White House, as he has suggested.And she had an alternative in mind: Des Moines."I really think it should be done in Des Moines, Iowa. That makes total sense to me,"&nbsp;Ernst, a first-term Republican who is up for re-election this year, said on a conference call with reporters. "We’re a state that would largely support Trump, and of course we could really use that economic boom. Just send President Trump in, and we’ll find a place for him to give his acceptance speech."Trump won Iowa by more than 9 percentage points in 2016, but showed the president leading former Vice President Joe Biden by just 1 point, well within the poll's margin of error.Trump said Wednesday on "Fox &amp; Friends" that , calling the location the "easiest" and least-expensive option. But the president said he was not "locked in" on that choice."It would be a very convenient location; it would be by far the least expensive," Trump told reporters Wednesday at a news conference. "It would be very cost-conscious by comparison to any other location."Trump's team is also considering other locations for the Aug. 27 acceptance speech. Plans to accept the nomination at conventions in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida, have been derailed by concerns about COVID-19.Biden campaign officials said this week that as planned and will instead deliver his speech from his home in Delaware.More:The Hatch Act forbids government officials from engaging in political activity on government property, though the president is exempt from that law. Still, other staff would be required to help organize an acceptance speech.Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said:&nbsp;"Giving a political speech of this magnitude and visibility on the White House grounds creates the appearance that it's a government-sanctioned event, something multiple laws were&nbsp;written to avoid."Although the Hatch Act does not apply to the president,&nbsp;Libowitz noted that other government employees would likely be necessary to handle the event.&nbsp;He added: "While many ethics laws, like the Hatch Act, do not apply to the president, they could apply to the other government employees who might be attending or working on the event."Speaking to reporters, Ernst said she disagreed with using the White House as the location for Trump's acceptance speech."Certainly, I don’t think he should accept it from the White House and I don’t think he will," Ernst said of Trump.U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa's senior Republican senator, was less firm about whether the White House would be an appropriate location for Trump to accept the nomination when asked by a reporter on Wednesday."I&nbsp;don't have an answer for you," Grassley said. "Well, there's an obvious answer. It's probably possible if it doesn't violate any federal laws."Des Moines Register reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel and USA Today reporters David Jackson and John Fritze contributed to this report.Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at .Your subscription makes our journalism possible. Subscribe today at .View Comments

Des Moines RegisterView CommentsU.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said Thursday that President Donald Trump should not accept the Republican Party's presidential nomination from the White House, as he has suggested.And she had an alternative in mind: Des Moines."I really think it should be done in Des Moines, Iowa. That makes total sense to me,"&nbsp;Ernst, a first-term Republican who is up for re-election this year, said on a conference call with reporters. "We’re a state that would largely support Trump, and of course we could really use that economic boom. Just send President Trump in, and we’ll find...

Joni Ernst to President Trump: Accept the Republican nomination in Des Moines, not the White House

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS