Analysis by Joe Schaeffer, 247 Real News
News item: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds will be giving the official Republican response to installed President Joe Biden's State of the Union address.
At a time when Americans are desperately looking outside of Washington, D.C. for political leadership that will put the citizens of this nation first, Reynolds and far too many of her fellow GOP governors instead seem to have another agenda in mind. First and foremost, that involves doing lucrative state business with communist China.
Reynolds is part of the Leadership Team for the Republican Governors Association, which just shamelessly accepted a $250,000 donation from notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's close financial associate Leslie Wexner.
Reynolds was quoted by the organization upon assuming the role of Vice Chair in 2021:
“If the challenges of 2020 taught us anything, it’s that leadership matters. Republican Governors across our country stepped up during an unprecedented time and I am honored to be a part of this incredible team,” said incoming RGA Vice Chairwoman Governor Kim Reynolds. “Across the nation, Republican Governors are leading America’s economic comeback, working to grow jobs, expand opportunity, and keep our communities safe. I look forward to partnering with RGA Chairman [Arizona] Governor [Doug] Ducey to grow our ranks and elect more Republican governors across the country.”
She was re-appointed to the same role for 2022:“It is an honor to be elected to serve once again alongside my colleagues as the RGA Co-Chair for the people of Arizona and America,” said RGA Co-Chairman Governor Doug Ducey. “The 2022 election offers exciting pick-up opportunities for the RGA, and I am looking forward to continuing to work with [Nebraska] Governor [Pete] Ricketts, Governor Reynolds, and the RGA to elect more pro-growth and pro-opportunity Republican governors.”
In a shocking interview with state broadcaster China Today in 2017, Ducey offered Arizona's natural resources and defense industry offerings to the communist superpower:I’ve mentioned semiconductors, electronics, aerospace, our defense industry, mining and ores that we do…. So I think from the franchise business to the aerospace and defense business, we would like to do more business with China, with Chinese business people.
What a lovely pair they make:BREAKING: The RGA announces Arizona Governor @DougDucey elected as Chair and Iowa Governor @KimReynoldsIA as Vice Chair for 2021 leadership positions.https://t.co/sB2C4zX6v6 pic.twitter.com/B5skoCAmzE
— The RGA (@GOPGovs) December 9, 2020
Kim Reynolds appears to have a particular fondness for GOP governors who pine to cultivate intimate Chinese connections. Her official RGA bio specifically touts Reynolds' steadfast devotion to doing business with the tyrannical Red regime:
As Governor, Kim’s strong voice for international trade, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing is opening new markets and maintaining relationships with leaders in China, Mexico, Canada, Israel, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Germany, Brazil and Argentina, to name just a few.
Reynolds' self-described mentor is former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, one of the most notorious pro-China politicians in America over the past two decades, and that is really saying something:Wishing the happiest of birthdays to a mentor, friend and America’s outstanding Ambassador to China, Terry Branstad! pic.twitter.com/Bb1zAhRIiM
— Kim Reynolds (@KimReynoldsIA) November 17, 2019
Reynolds served as Iowa lieutenant governor from 2011 until she assumed the governorship in 2017 when Branstad was named U.S. ambassador to China. She then won election for a full four-year term of her own the following year. WorldTribune reported last October that Branstad participated in a bizarre heartland event held in tiny Muscatine, Iowa:
[The] mission? Celebrate U.S.-China ties as “the most important relationship between great powers in the 21st century.”
[...]
To celebrate this connection and help younger people engage with U.S.-China relations, Muscatine Community College hosted a viewing of the National Committee on U.S. China [R]elations China Town Hall Oct. 19. Previous Ambassador to China and Iowa Governor Terry Branstad attended the viewing.
“Board members of the National Committee include Henry Kissinger and the head of the leftist globalist Ford Foundation’s China office, as well as numerous CEOs and retired elected officials,” a 2020 WorldTribune article revealed. Reynolds opposed Trump's China tariffs in 2018, Radio Iowa relates:Republican Governor Kim Reynolds today said she’s an advocate for “free and fair trade” — but the tariffs President Trump imposed on Chinese steel and aluminum are having a negative impact on the Midwest.
“When I disagree with the president, I’m not afraid to step up,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said she’ll use any opportunity she can to encourage Trump and his governing team to resolve the impasse without elevating the dispute even further.
“There are issues with China, especially when it comes to intellectual property and tech transfer. We’ve let that escalate to the place that it shouldn’t. That also has an impact on our economy and on manufacturing, so we need to figure out a way to hold them accountable, but we need to make sure we don’t have unintended consequences by getting into a trade war,” Reynolds said. “Nobody wins in a trade war.”
China is a top destination for Iowa soybeans, but the Chinese did not include soybeans in the 128 products included in its tariff list.
In 2017, Reynolds sat down for an interview with official communist state-run TV network CGTN while she was in the country for one of her numerous trade missions:"Well, first of all, this is my fifth trade mission to China. So, my first trade mission as lieutenant governor was to China. And my first trade mission as the governor of the great state of Iowa is to China. And so I hope that indicates to the people of China how important China is for the Iowa market."
[...]
"We had the opportunity to meet with Ambassador Branstad, who is a former governor of Iowa, who has a very, very special relationship with President Xi [Jinping] that was established over 30 years ago. And so, we want to continue to foster and build. My takeaway from this trip is that it's going very well, we just have always been treated so well by the people of China when we've made these trade missions and so there's a lot of opportunity moving forward."
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported in 2014 that the cozy China-Iowa pipeline involves far more than beef and soybeans:
China was Iowa's second-largest export market in 2013, according to U.S.-China Business Council. While $2.3 billion of the $2.9 billion total was farm commodities, other industries such as aerospace, processed foods and machinery have developed a significant market presence in the world's most populous nation.
The Gazette paints a disturbing picture of Iowa-China aviation partnership:"Success in China does not happen overnight,” said Colin Mahoney, senior vice president, International and Service Solutions for Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, which has been active in China for more than 30 years....
Approximately 80 employees work for Rockwell Collins in China. Rockwell Collins China has achieved significant growth in all its activities, generating annual revenue of $200 million – primarily from airline and original equipment manufacturer orders.
Mahoney said maintaining a close working relationship with the Chinese aviation industry has been an integral part of Rockwell's overall strategy. The company is involved with a number of joint ventures with Chinese entities that involve research and development, product assembly and testing, installation and ongoing maintenance of avionics and communications equipment.
When multinational defense industry giant United Technologies purchased Rockwell Collins in 2018, China was called on to approve the deal. Nothing worrisome about that, is there? One year later, UT merged with Raytheon to create a military-industrial supercorporation.The RGA loves speaking with a forked tongue when it comes to China:
Gavin Newsom loves China.
— The RGA (@GOPGovs) August 31, 2021
The last thing Californians need is more communist influences...https://t.co/FH40HoKP8r
.@AsaHutchinson: Why China is bringing its companies & new jobs to Arkansas: https://t.co/W3WwgsjJr1
— The RGA (@GOPGovs) July 12, 2017
But what else is to be expected with an Executive Committee featuring the most notorious RINO governors in the nation, including Larry Hogan of Maryland, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts and Bill Lee of Tennessee?
This is the company Kim Reynolds keeps. In selecting her to give the State of the Union response, the Republican establishment is showing once again its keen desire to move the party away from a populist America First grassroots base that it loathes and fears.
