Iowa’s Republican Senator isn’t jumping to the defense of the embattled leader of Republicans in the U-S Senate. Senator Chuck Grassley says the jury’s still out on whether Mississippi Senator Trent Lott should lose his leadership post for racially-insensitive comments he made.Grassley says he’s not spent much time thinking about Lott’s fate because he “doesn’t get too concerned about who” is the Senate Republican Leader.Grassley says he’s been focused on the work of the Senate Finance Committee, which he’ll lead when the Senate goes back to work in January. Grassley says what Lott said was “absolutely wrong and should never have been said” and shows “insensitivity.” Grassley says it’s very important that Republicans “not condone that kind of talk about race.” Grassley watched Lott’s half-hour-long appearance last night on Black Entertainment Television, but says that didn’t decide Lott’s fate in his eyes.. Grassley says the key question now is whether Lott can be an effective leader in the wake of the scandal.
