DeJear isn’t apologizing for her decision to stay seated while everyone else in the Iowa Capitol stood to honor law enforcement last January. Instead, she is calling the standing ovation just “pomp and circumstance.”
DeJear attended Gov. Reynolds’ annual Condition of the State address as a guest of Democratic Rep. Chris Hall. During her speech, the Governor spoke about how, in cities and states across the country, police officers are being treated like villains, causing resignations to go up and recruiting numbers to dwindle.
“While we can’t fix attitudes in other states,” Gov. Reynolds said, “we can certainly let our officers—and officers across the country—know that in Iowa, they’re welcome and will receive the respect and support they deserve.”
As can be seen in the video of the speech, everyone stood and applauded to pay that respect. Everyone but Deidre DeJear.
As first reported by Iowa Field Report, DeJear continued to sit while everyone else around her stood.
Tonight at the condition of the state, while everybody else stood to honor law enforcement @DeidreDeJear sat. #iagov https://t.co/jq6uRTDIQR pic.twitter.com/3qaritNPI6
— Iowa Field Report.com (@IAFieldReport) January 12, 2022
Gov. Reynolds has now released an ad, putting DeJear’s disrespect on full display.
One might think that, in response to the ad, DeJear would apologize. That she would say it was a lapse of judgment.
But DeJear hasn’t done that. Instead, she said that she wouldn’t stand because the Governor didn’t focus more on mental health.
If you’re confused, you’re not alone. The Governor was talking about negative attitudes that police officers have faced around the country. And DeJear claims she stayed seated while everyone else stood because….because of mental health?
It’s time for DeJear to stop digging. She already insulted the sacrifice that law enforcement officers make. She should stop insulting their intelligence with her ridiculous excuse.
And Iowa Democrats need to decide. Do they stand with Deidre DeJear? Or do they stand with Iowa’s law enforcement?
