One year into his presidency, it seems like Joe Biden and the Democrats in Washington, D.C. have sent the country back in time to the late-1970s and early 80s, “when runaway inflation was hammering families, a violent crime wave was crashing our cities, and the Soviet army was trying to redraw the world map,” Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said Tuesday night, in the official Republican response to Biden’s State of the Union address.
Speaking in front of the Iowa state capitol in Des Moines, Reynolds attacked Biden’s international and domestic record, and she made the case for putting faith in the American people. Dressed in red and wearing an American and Ukrainian flag pin, she spoke about 15 minutes.
When he was elected, Biden promised to make America respected again on the world stage and unite the country. Instead, Reynolds said, “he’s failed on both fronts.”
Internationally, Reynolds said, the “disastrous” Afghanistan withdrawal betrayed American allies and embolden the country’s enemies. Biden did not address the Afghanistan withdrawal in his speech. And while Reynolds said Americans should stand united with the people of Ukraine who are fighting back against a Russian onslaught, she said Americans shouldn’t ignore Biden’s actions in the run-up to the invasion.
“Waiving sanctions on Russian pipelines,” she said. “Eliminating oil production here at home. Focusing on political correctness rather than military readiness. Reacting to world events instead of driving them.”
It is time for America to lead again on the world stage, Reynold said. “But we can’t project strength abroad if we’re weak at home.”