Chuck Grassley’s Yearlong, One-Sided Twitter Conversation With President Trump
You might imagine that a senator would have a way of communicating with the president other than an endless series of pitifully one-sided tweets. Surely, you think, a senator — let’s say a seven-term senator — who wanted to share a newspaper column with the president might have a means for doing so beyond his own burbling Twitter feed.
I’m afraid you’re unfamiliar with Chuck Grassley, the Republican senior senator from Iowa, who, like so many of his fellow Americans, has spent the first year of the Trump era shouting incoherent things at the president on the internet.
Grassley is the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is also a man whose Twitter aesthetic is best described as “19th-century village drunk tries to send a telegraph.” Concision reigns. Typos flower. Words cling together, as if for safety. He once tweeted an anecdote about hitting a deer, presumably with a car. “Assume deer dead,” he concluded.
For whatever reason, Grassley has decided that Twitter is the ideal medium through which to communicate with President Donald Trump. Below is a year’s worth of Grassley bellowing into the void about Iowa and ethanol and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, apparently in a vain attempt at influencing a man who will never even hear his half-literate cries. Here’s to three more years of this. Please no one tell Chuck Grassley about phones.
Pres Trump. I gave all ur cabinet appointees files of Obama unanswered oversight letters fr me. Will u get them answred. Read nxt Twitter
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) January 25, 2017
Pres Trump Drain the swamp of all Grassley oversight letter in Obama murky bureaucracy
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) January 25, 2017
@POTUS read my previous tweet and thx to Pres Trump for getting on board. REMEMBER we can do somethings bipartisan and H1B is good example
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 20, 2017
@POTUS If u don't hv time to call tell SecyKelly to call me
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 20, 2017
@POTUS In other words I've been waiting for six yrs for a president interested in fixing H1B and that person has finally arrived/DRAIN SWAMP
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 20, 2017
@POTUS If u want a real expert on fixing H1B a former staffer of mine just moved to HomelandSecurity Call my office I will tell WHO SHE IS
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) March 20, 2017
@realDonaldTrump @POTUS Pls take care of Obama VA issue:Get VASecy to get Whistleblower DrKlein(250K$)seeing patients VA wasting money/mrale
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 1, 2017
@POTUS Read WSJ PeggyNoonan 2day. I hv 2Staffers I call"PeggyNoonan Conscience" I rely on so I make fewer mistakes/ Think abt that for WH
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 1, 2017
@realDonaldTrump Thx for mentioning my handling of Gorsuch nomination at rose garden ceremony. I'm in Iowa sorry to miss watched on tv
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) April 10, 2017
Tell Secy DeVos to read 2day's WSJ oped by Harvey Silverglate + ponder whether she shld take his advice Seem like good pts @realDonaldTrump
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 1, 2017
#POTUS I read tweet abt possibility of stopping WH PressBriefings. That wld be wrong. Even We in Senate follow those briefings
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 12, 2017
@realDonaldTrump good job getting rid of some bad regs Can do alot more good by getting rid of Obama guidance letters in various agencies
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 16, 2017
#realdonaldtrump#potus please read WSJournal Noonan oped today I know one time TrumpAir during campaign u called her/praisedher CALLAGAIN
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 20, 2017
#realdonaldtrump #potus The president shld give a national tv report on his Nine day international trip What he accomplished
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) May 20, 2017
Happy birthday Mr President @realDonaldTrump
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 14, 2017
Just recd recorded ph call to go to Trump CedrRapids Speech Wednesday @realDonaldTrump I can't go bc I hv not missed vote since 93 7900votes
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) June 17, 2017
@realDonaldTrump read last paragraph of Peggy noonan wsj oped today
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 8, 2017
@realDonaldTrump dont mke mistake some past Pres made taking August off Barnstorm country 2tell ppl policy priorities comingup aftr LaborDay
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 17, 2017
@realDonaldTrump I'm always happy to go to WhiteHouse to discuss w u Tell Scaramucci not to use that filthy language around me he toldmedia
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) July 28, 2017
The Iowa state fair brings in many visitors each yr inclding Pres Trump by helicopter 2yrs ago @realDonaldTrump will you visit again? RSVP
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 10, 2017
@realDonaldTrump #hurricane keep on top of hurricane Harvey dont mke same mistake Pres Bush made w Katrina
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 25, 2017
@realDonaldTrump Ur tweet praising COS Kelly appropriate MarineTwins Kelly/Mattis"FrHalls of Montezuma2Shores of Tripoli" These generals Gr8
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 1, 2017
@realDonaldTrump Morn news says u made deal w Schumer on DACA/hv ur staff brief me/ I know u undercut JudiCimm effort 4 biparty agreement
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 14, 2017
@realDonaldTrump pls read ltr I wrote u on terrible EPA proposal Don't let EPA break ur promise on biofuels Rural America NEEDS ur support
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 27, 2017
@realDonaldTrump The changes EPA propose 2 the RFS Biofuel program help BIGOIL few and hurt jobs& farmers/well connected win/LITTLEGUYLOSES
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) September 29, 2017
3/3 @realDonaldTrump regardless ur tax framework sets out badly needed cuts REFORM SIMPLIFICATION TO CREATE JOBS/ move byond ObamaSTAGNATION
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 12, 2017
Thx for kennedy files release Ridiculous that CIA wants to review to redact YeGods u had fifty yrs NOW CIA WANTS FURTHER COVERUP/POTUS STOP
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) October 27, 2017
@realDonaldTrump I'm the most Senior member of Senate Finance Comm I was dropped as Conferee So I won't be in front line fighting for what u and I believe to cut taxes
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 7, 2017
@realDonaldTrump WSJ"Pressing in on many Trump critics is unreality of Putin conspiracy to put him in WH"/SO/"Trump is guilty of something.It is Muellers job to figure out WHAT"/JUST ANYTHING
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 9, 2017
@realDonaldTrump Merry Christmas Mr President
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) December 24, 2017
@realDonaldTrump it's good we have a president that is willing to speak out for protesters in Iran & their right to freedom of expression & peaceful assembly. It's something Reagan did successfully in fight against soviet oppression
— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) January 2, 2018
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.