ICYMI: Joni Ernst Is Really Bad At This [Iowa Starting Line]

“With less than four months until the November election, Ernst seems utterly unprepared to defend her record or lay out a vision for her second term”

A scathing new column from Iowa Starting Line’s Pat Rynard eviscerates Senator Joni Ernst’s “wildly hypocritical,” “poorly…explained,” and “extremely vague” interview with Iowa Press in which she revealed herself to be “utterly unprepared to defend her record or lay out a vision for her second term.”

From showing that Senate Republicans have no plan to protect people with pre-existing conditions if their lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act is successful, to saying the quiet part out loud about the GOP’s hypocrisy on filling an election-year Supreme Court vacancy, to repeatedly saying only she’d “discuss” an issue instead of explaining her actual policy positions, Ernst made it clear that she’s failed to meet the “absolute bare minimum for a senator” after six years in Washington.

Take a look at some of the key questions Ernst failed to answer in the cringe-worthy interview, along with Rynard’s analysis:

On whether the Senate should consider a lame-duck Supreme Court nominee:

Ernst: “It is a lame-duck session, I would support going ahead with any hearings that we might have, and if it comes to an appointment prior to the end of the year, I would be supportive of that … even though it’s a lame-duck session, it is still a Republican president and still a Republican Senate.”

Rynard: “It’s obviously a very difficult position to defend, but you’d think Ernst could at least give it a try…Nope. Instead, it was just ‘Republicans are in charge, so there.’ And this is a senator in the middle of a very challenging reelection race.”

On Ernst’s lack of a plan to protect people with pre-existing conditions if the GOP lawsuit to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act succeeds:

Ernst: “I would back a plan that would support using federal and state dollars, set aside, to help those with the most difficult of medical needs…There are a number of plans, and we will go back and revisit those plans, but the difficulty is bringing everyone together in consensus on the appropriate plan to move forward. But I think understanding that we are facing a very hard reality with a Supreme Court decision, making sure we can get everyone into a consensus and ready to act quickly, and hopefully the House will be ready to support what we are able to do on a bipartisan basis in the Senate.”

Rynard: “Now, if you’re an Iowan with a preexisting condition, how comfortable would you feel from those statements?…So, Ernst is offering an extremely vague solution to Americans losing preexisting conditions coverage, which would need to move incredibly fast through a deadlocked Congress. It’s almost like Republicans never should have advanced a lawsuit to overturn the ACA in the first place, especially when they clearly have no post-ACA plan for people’s health care.”

Iowa Starting Line: Joni Ernst Is Really Bad At This

By Pat Rynard

Key Points:

• What happens when an elected Republican official spends all their time in a right-wing bubble? They start to sound like Sen. Joni Ernst, who seemed totally unprepared to answer some basic and common questions about her policy and political goals in an Iowa Press interview on Friday.

• The most newsworthy moment that came from the taping with a trio of top Iowa reporters was Ernst admitting that she would back a lame-duck Supreme Court nomination at the end of this year, even if President Donald Trump was defeated and even if Senate Republicans lost their majority.

• As most will remember, that runs directly counter to her position in 2016, when she argued, “We must wait to see what the people say this November.” Now, Ernst wants to ram through another Trump nominee even if the people do speak and reject Trump and herself.

• That wildly hypocritical position was bad enough, but what was also astonishing in Ernst’s answer (and the rest of the interview, really), was just how poorly she explained her position. Take two minutes (really, just take two minutes) and watch her response as the reporters press her on a nomination.

• Pressed several times on the matter, Ernst repeatedly returned to the simple argument that Republicans control the White House and Senate, and that’s why they should get to appoint a new justice, even if voters outright reject them in November.

• It’s obviously a very difficult position to defend, but you’d think Ernst could at least give it a try.

• Say the upcoming Supreme Court decisions are too important to leave it open. Claim voters intended this because of the attention on the last Supreme Court seat opening during the election. Talk about how proud you are of the conservative judicial appointments you’ve already made. Sidestep it completely by saying you’re not going to comment on a hypothetical, especially if it involves someone dying. Make something up about the “Biden rule.” Anything!

• Nope. Instead, it was just “Republicans are in charge, so there.” And this is a senator in the middle of a very challenging reelection race.

• The great albatross around Republicans’ neck in the 2018 election was their constant past votes attempting to overturn the Affordable Care Act, with no backup plan, especially when it came to covering preexisting conditions. Ernst has been hammered on the topic repeatedly, and a bill she signed onto didn’t guarantee the same level of coverage for people with preexisting conditions as the ACA does.

• So, you’d think after all this time she’d have a good answer, right? Wrong.

• When asked about the very real possibility that the ACA is ruled unconstitutional by the Trump-backed Texas lawsuit, Ernst struggled to explain her vision of what would happen next.

• So, Ernst is offering an extremely vague solution to Americans losing preexisting conditions coverage, which would need to move incredibly fast through a deadlocked Congress. It’s almost like Republicans never should have advanced a lawsuit to overturn the ACA in the first place, especially when they clearly have no post-ACA plan for people’s health care.

• Ernst developed this aura around her of a gifted campaigner during her 2014 bid, but it’s increasingly clear that was based too much on her initial “Squeal” ad. Having a set, coherent answer on health care policy, which always polls as the most important issue for Iowans, should be the absolute bare minimum for a senator after nearly six years, but Ernst doesn’t even have that.

• With less than four months until the November election, Ernst seems utterly unprepared to defend her record or lay out a vision for her second term.

Read the full column here.

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