Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told a large crowd of supporters in a Cedar Rapids amphitheater last night that he was happy to hear that the FBI is reviewing newly-discovered emails related to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s private server.
“The biggest political scandal since Watergate, and it’s everybody’s hope that justice, at last, can be delivered,” Trump told a crowd packed into a downtown riverfront amphitheater.
Trump only spoke about the latest email news for a couple of minutes, while Clinton made no public remarks about it at earlier stops Friday in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. She did hold a brief news conference for the national press after her rally at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. She urged the FBI to release more information about the emails than it did earlier Friday, calling it, "imperative that the bureau explain this issue in question, whatever it is, without any delay."
Among those at Clinton’s Des Moines gathering, there was little evidence that this latest news would hurt her among supporters. Nancy Goreeham says she has already voted for Clinton, and the latest email news doesn’t bother her.
She’s already cast her ballot for Clinton and the latest e-mail news doesn’t bother her.
“It doesn’t move my feelings about Hillary one bit. I think she’ll be a fabulous president,” she said.
At Trump’s rally in Cedar Rapids, his comments about today’s developments brought the familiar chant of “Lock her up!” from supporters.
Trump’s speech also included promises to repeal Obamacare and protect family farms from what he says are Clinton’s plans to sharply increase taxes.
“Adding to the pain, Hillary wants to substantially increase the estate tax on family farms,” he said. “In other words, it will be very hard to leave your farm to your children and your heirs.”
Clinton has proposed raising the estate tax to 50-percent for estates worth more than 10-million dollars. An Iowa State University reportthis month said very few family farms would be subject to estate tax liability if Clinton’s proposal is enacted.
Clinton’s two Iowa rallies Friday were billed as “Women Win,” at which she also made a pitch for early voting. In Cedar Rapids earlier in the day, she urged the crowd to “compare and contrast” her and Republican rival Trump.
“Think about every single concern you’ve got. Think about your kids and your grandkids.” Clinton said. "Think about what you’ll tell them about how you voted because I want you join me in voting for a better America.”
Clinton's rally was in the city'sNewBoneighborhood, which survived a flood of about 22-feet just a few weeks ago with relatively minor damage.
"You escaped another historic flood like the one you had in 2008, thank heaven, but we know families and businesses were still affected and we need to make sure you have the resources you need not just to respond to this flood but to prevent devastation from future flooding," Clinton said. Congress approved a flood protection plan for Cedar Rapids in 2014, but no money has been appropriated to build the levees called for in the plan.
Two recent polls of Iowa voters suggest the race is still very close. A Des Moines Register poll released three weeks ago gave Trump a four percentage point lead, while a poll released this week from Quinnipiac University suggests the race is tied, with each candidate having the support of 44-percent of likely Iowa voters.
