Joni Ernst refuses to condemn Trump's failed leadership
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said that two US Ebola deaths under Obama were failed leadership, but Trump isn’t failing after 130,000 coronavirus deaths.
Transcript via CNN’s State Of The Union:
BASH: OK, Senator, let’s turn to the coronavirus crisis.
Cases in your home state of Iowa have steadily risen for the last two weeks. You criticized President Obama in 2014 for his handling of the Ebola outbreak, saying that he showed — quote — “failed leadership.”
Only two people in the U.S. died from Ebola. Right now, there are almost 130,000 Americans dead from coronavirus. So, if President Obama showed failed leadership then, do you think President Trump is showing failed leadership now?
ERNST: Well, I think we all have responsibility in stopping the spread.
And, certainly, I have heard some of the discussions earlier. Wearing a mask is entirely appropriate. Social distancing is entirely appropriate.
We have seen, I think, one additional death in the last 24 hours here in Iowa. So, it is something that we absolutely should be paying attention to. And we all should do our part to make sure that we are protecting others as well.
So, this is a virus that is not going to go away soon. We want to make sure that we are watching this and doing everything that we can as a federal government, including the research and development of therapeutics and vaccinations, to make sure that we are doing the right thing as a nation.
BASH: So, given the fact that one person died there, that’s only half the number that died during Ebola, which you have said was failed leadership, is the president right now exhibiting failed leadership?
ERNST: Well, I — no, I think that the president is stepping forward.
And we have Vice President Mike Pence that is spearheading the task force efforts on the coronavirus, and so understanding where this came from, how it developed.
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Of course, the pushback that we got from the Democrats when the president did try to shut down travel from some of those hot spots, it was an extremely difficult environment to operate.
And, you know, we know different today than we did at the beginning of the spread of the virus, and we should continually learn from those efforts and make sure that we are doing the right thing by moving our nation forward, simple things, wearing a mask, making sure that we’re washing our hands, but then, as federal government officials, making sure we’re moving at warp speed to get to that vaccination.
Never has the turn a blind eye to Trump’s failures Senate Republican double standard been made more clear than it was by Sen. Ernst.
Joni Ernst is locked in a tight Senate race because of Trump’s failure on the pandemic, but instead of telling Iowa voters the truth about the president, she is hopping into a sinking lifeboat with Trump and hoping that they can make it to shore.
Ernst is sticking with Trump through the bitter end and comments like this are why she is kissing her Senate seat goodbye.
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