Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley apparently hit a deer last night.
“Fred and I hit a deer on hiway 136 south of Dyersville,” Grassely tweeted Thursday night. “After I pulled fender rubbing on tire we continued to farm. Assume deer dead.”
Jill Kozeny, Grassley’s spokeswoman, told The Daily Caller that both Fred and Grassley were unharmed. She also identified the “Fred” Grassley referenced as Fred Schuster, the senator’s regional director based in Cedar Rapids.
“They were entering Dyersville about 7:30 last night, coming in from the south on Hwy. 136, and still just on the edge on town. Fred swerved to the shoulder of the road to try to avoid the deer but was unable to avoid it,” Kozeny told TheDC in an email.
“The deer was large, and the impact was heavy and on the driver’s side of the car. The deer had fled and couldn’t be seen after the impact. Part of the indented car fender was rubbing on the front-left tire, and Sen. Grassley pulled the fender off the tire so he and Fred could drive to Grassley’s home in New Hartford.”
Both Grassley, one of the more entertaining Tweeters in the Senate, and the deer received a lot of attention on Twitter following his initial dispatch. Some are concerned about the deer, while others are wondering why Grassley would leave a perfectly good meal behind. Many Tweeters are attempting to make political jokes at the deer and/or Grassley’s expense.
His tweet was retweeted over 1,500 times by the time of publication. A parody account of the assumed dead deer has also popped up, and already boasts 172 followers.
“I was harmless. But Chuck needed to farm,” reads @GrassleyDeer‘s description. It’s first tweet: “WHY DID YOU KILL ME.”
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa also weighed in on the matter Friday morning.
“Wishing @ChuckGrassley safe, deer-free driving today,” Issa tweeted.
Iowa ranks third in the country for deer car accidents, behind West Virginia and South Dakota, according to State Farm.