Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) isn’t sold on Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense. The Iowa Republican had her meeting with President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee, appreciated his service—Hegseth is a decorated combat veteran—and said they had a frank discussion about the confirmation process. Mr. Hegseth is the target of a Brett Kavanaugh-like smear campaign, where allegations of sexual misconduct and heavy drinking are bubbling up on the pages of the fake news press. Yet, Ernst doesn’t seem keen on voting for his nomination. Instead, there are rumors that she’s trying to derail him to get the job for herself. She also supports the transgender nonsense to continue in the military, something that Mr. Hegseth is dead set on eliminating from the Pentagon. Ernst made this point in October on PBS’ Firing Line (via Iowa Standard):
Sen. Joni Ernst, who is reportedly lobbying to replace Hegseth as Trump's SecDef nominee, supports the transing of the military and requiring women to be eligible for the draft. Not entirely surprising she prefers the status quo to Pete Hegseth. https://t.co/NRsuprY42n
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) December 5, 2024
United States Sen. Joni Ernst made an appearance on “Firing Line” with Margaret Hoover on Aug. 9. Ernst supported transgender inclusion in the military and expressed her support for requiring females to sign up for the draft.
Ernst was asked about her stance against President Donald J. Trump in that she supports transgender inclusion in the military. She added that she disagrees with the idea that the military has become too woke.
“When it comes to wokeness in the military, I always push back because our military is not woke,” Ernst said. “I would say that there is civilian leadership of the military that is woke. OK, so there is a difference between the leadership and those that serve in uniform.”
Ernst said the military has transgender people serving in the military.
“They will bleed red just as the rest of us,” she said.
Ernst said if transgender people “bring value” to the unit, then that talent needs to be brought into our services.
“I’m looking at what’s good for our nation,” she said. “And believe me, when we’re facing a recruiting challenge right now, if people are physically willing and able to serve our country, we want them to do so.”
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I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s service to our country, something we both share.
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) December 4, 2024
Today, as part of the confirmation process, we had a frank and thorough conversation.
🚨 #BREAKING: Joni Ernst is still REFUSING to vote to confirm Pete Hegseth, because she thinks she can sabotage him and get the job
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 5, 2024
Despicable.
We OVERWHELMINGLY voted for the Trump Agenda, Joni. Get the hell out of the way, or lose your seat in 2026. pic.twitter.com/UQKZaybCUw
Senator Joni Ernst (R) voted to confirm Lloyd Austin for Secretary of Defense who turned our military into a woke laughingstock but is refusing to say if she will confirm Pete Hegseth.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 5, 2024
So she supports all this trash but doesn’t support a strong Conservative who will strengthen… pic.twitter.com/F2nKpoIQy6
So, she votes for Lloyd Austin, who went AWOL with a medical emergency and didn’t tell anyone last spring. She is a woke ally of whatever the Biden administration was trying to do in the Defense Department but now recoils at Mr. Hegseth because he’ll do the exact opposite. I understand she wants the job, but there are other reports that Trump has replacement candidates, and Ms. Ernst isn’t on the list.
It’s disappointing. I was expecting Murkowski, Collins, and whoever is replacing Mitt Romney to be the insufferable threesome on this nomination. Instead, it’s Ernst who hails from a ruby-red state. Lindsey Graham wasn’t pleased with the allegations surrounding Hegseth, but he’s coming around to the nominee.
What a shame.
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