The crowd at the Faith and Fredoom event.
The annual fall gathering of a group of evangelical Christians began with a rousing ovation for Chuck Grassley, the Iowa Republican who as chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee has a leading role in confirming the next U.S. Supreme Court justice.
Ralph Reed, head of the national Faith and Freedom Coalition, stressed that theme during his Saturday night speech to the coalition’s Iowa affiliate.
“Under the leadership of one of the most able United States senators in this country, we are going to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and he’s going to spend the next 50 years on the U.S. Supreme Court,” Reed said, to cheers.
AUDIO of first 6 minutes of Reed’s speech
According to Reed, the confirmation process has been “debased” with the “politics of character assassination” and Reed asked the crowd to pray for Kavanaugh and his family.
“This is why we voted to put Donald Trump in the White House and now let’s pray him in and get it done,” Reed said, to cheers.
The name Christine Blasey Ford was not mentioned during the two-hour program, but her sexual abuse accusations against Kavanaugh were. Republican Congressman Steve King of Kiron told the crowd he’s no fan of what he characterized as a “battle of the sexes.”
“When I look at the allegations made by a sole individual who doesn’t remember the residence, the house, the name of the owners of this house…I’m thinking: ‘Is there any man in this room that wouldn’t be subjected to such an allegation, a false allegation and how can you disprove something like that?'” King asked, “which means, if that’s the new standard, no man ever qualifies for the supreme court again.”
AUDIO of King’s speech, 16:00
Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition president Steve Scheffler, who is also the Republican National Committeeman from Iowa, said Democrats on Grassley’s committee are committing “tyranny.”
“This is all about destroying Donald Trump,” Scheffler said. “And if they destroy Donald Trump, they’re coming after you and I.”
AUDIO of Scheffler’s comments on 2018 election, 3:00
Senator Joni Ernst also spoke at the event. While she did not bring up the allegations against Kavanaugh, Ernst said Grassley was doing everything he could to proceed with Kavanaugh’s hearing. She then used her cell phone to record a video of the crowd cheering for Grassley.
“That is for you, Chuck. God bless you. Iowa loves you. Thank you for what you do,” Ernst said. “We appreciate you so very much.”
Governor Kim Reynolds, Republican Congressman David Young of Van Meter and Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann also spoke at the event.