Branstad defends Trump, warns of ISIS threat to Iowans [View all]

Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday he still plans to stump across the state for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and he complained that Bill and Hillary Clinton are escaping scrutiny for alleged misdeeds involving the former Democratic president.

Instead of worrying about Trump's personal conduct, Iowa voters should be more focused on important policy issues, including the fact that Islamic terrorist sympathizers are operating in Iowa, Branstad said. However, he declined to provide any specific details about public safety threats to Iowans.

But FBI Director James Comey told the National Association of Attorneys General in February 2015 that his agents were conducting investigations of people in various stages of radicalizing throughout the United States. "This isn't a New York phenomenon or a Washington phenomenon. This is all 50 states and in ways that are very hard to see," Comey said. The FBI head said the message of radical terrorists, often promoted through social media, "resonates with troubled souls — people seeking meaning in some horribly misguided way."

Branstad is a Republican whose son, Eric, is state director of Trump's campaign. The governor spent much of his weekly news briefing defending the GOP presidential nominee. He said lewd remarks by Trump in a 2005 video disclosed in recent days are "reprehensible and offensive," but added that he accepts Trump's apology.

Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/10/branstad-defends-trump-warns-isis-threat-iowans/91851286/