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Citing 'Bleak' Agricultural Economy, GOP Lawmakers Warn Trump Against Plan to Buy Argentine Beef
One GOP senator said the plan "looks like a betrayal of America first principles."
Oct 21, 2025
President Donald Trump has upset some of his own supporters in the American heartland with his proposal to reduce the cost of beef for US consumers by importing more of it from Argentina—and now members of his own party are calling him out.
One day after US ranchers, industry associations, and farmer advocacy groups panned Trump's proposal to buy more Argentine beef, GOP lawmakers who represent farm states are warning the president that his plan will cause a backlash among the very people who helped elect him last year.
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) on Tuesday morning took to social media to give Trump a blunt message about the impact his policies are having on her state.
"Since hearing the president’s comments suggesting the US would buy beef from Argentina, I’ve been in touch with his administration and my colleagues to seek clarity and express my deep concerns," she wrote on X. "I’ve also been sounding the alarm on the bleak state of our agricultural economy and the negative impacts facing Nebraska’s agricultural industry—the economic driver of our state."
Fischer emphasized that the US produces "safe, reliable" beef that "is the one bright spot in our struggling agricultural economy" at the moment.
Fischer is far from the only Republican to raise major objections to Trump's plan, as Politico reported on Tuesday that "farm-state Republicans on Capitol Hill are privately and publicly livid" about it and have been making "a flurry of calls to Trump officials to get more clarity and warn about the fallout for farmers already reeling from the president’s broad tariffs."
One anonymous GOP senator told Politico that the Trump plan "looks like a betrayal of America first principles." Sen. Jodi Ernst (R-Iowa) had a more accommodating response, telling Politico that "we should always put America first, and I’m sure the president will be willing to work on this."
US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins on Tuesday appeared to downplay the amount of beef Trump wanted to import from Argentina during an interview on CNBC.
"The president has said he's in discussions with Argentina, I think we'll be hearing more about that in the next day or two," she said. "But... it will not be very much. Argentina is also facing a foot and mouth disease issue, which we at [the US Department of Agriculture] have to ensure that our livestock industry is secure... Foot and mouth is a challenge."
CNBC: Is importing beef from Argentina a possibility?
BROOKE ROLLINS: Yes, the president has said he's in discussions with Argentina. It will not be very much. Argentina is also facing a foot and mouth disease issue. pic.twitter.com/UZiUpjpMAS
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 21, 2025
Trump's comments on buying more beef from Argentina came as his administration has initiated a $20 billion bailout for Argentina intended to stabilize the country's currency, which has seen its value plummet to dangerous lows over the last several months. In addition, Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have orchestrated another $20 billion in private bailout funds to backstop the nation's beleaguered economy.
Argentina President Javier Milei, a right-wing libertarian and political ally of Trump, has been lobbying the administration for economic assistance ahead of crucial midterm elections that are scheduled for October 26.
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Dems Break GOP Supermajority in Iowa Statehouse with 20-Point Swing in Trump District
In a race that bodes well for Democrats' hopes in 2026, Catelin Drey won by championing "affordable housing, childcare, and healthcare, strong public schools, and bodily autonomy," wrote one progressive Iowa journalist.
Aug 27, 2025
Democrats have broken the GOP stranglehold over Iowa's statehouse with a resounding win in a special election for the state Senate on Tuesday.
In the Sioux City-area district that Donald Trump carried by more than 11 points in 2024 and which had been won by Republicans for 13 consecutive years, Democrat Catelin Drey is projected to have won a convincing 55% of the vote over her Republican opponent, Christopher Prosch.
By taking the vacant seat, Democrats not only added to the mounting evidence for a coming anti-Trump backlash in the midterms, but also ended the Republican supermajority in Iowa's state Senate, which has allowed the GOP to spend the past three years curtailing abortion rights, stripping civil rights protections from transgender people, and chipping away at public education.
Additionally, the Democrats have thrown up a barrier to Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who needs a supermajority to confirm appointments and will now require some measure of bipartisan approval.
Like other successful Democratic candidates, Drey's message focused on affordability, with a special emphasis on the cost of living for families. Her slogan was "Iowa's Senate needs more moms."
"She has highlighted issues of particular importance to young parents," wrote Laura Belin for the progressive Iowa politics site Bleeding Heartland. "Affordable housing, childcare, and healthcare, strong public schools, and bodily autonomy."
Drey seized on outrage toward Republican attempts to defund public schools. Teachers, she said in one ad, "shouldn't have to rely on GoFundMes just to do their jobs."
"One takeaway from the Iowa special election: don't listen to centrist Democrats on education," said Jennifer Berkshire, an education writer for The Nation and the New Republic. "Catelin Drey made defending and funding public schools a focal point of her campaign and called for rolling back Iowa's controversial school voucher program."
Drey's victory adds to the already mounting pile of evidence that backlash towards President Donald Trump, whose approval ratings have skidded to near-record lows in recent weeks, will manifest at the ballot box next November.
G. Elliott Morris, a political data journalist, wrote Wednesday in his Strength in Numbers newsletter that "there have been plenty of special elections" this year, with "all of them suggesting a pretty sizable leftward shift in the electoral environment since November 2024."
Citing data from The Downballot's special election tracker, Morris wrote:
On average in 2025, Democratic candidates in special elections are running about 16 percentage points ahead of Kamala Harris’s margin versus Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election. That is 5-6 points higher than the average Democratic overperformance in 2017.
These crushing results, Democratic strategists say, are the reason behind Republicans' frantic efforts to ratchet up gerrymandering in states like Texas, where they control the state legislature.
"If you're wondering why Republicans are gerrymandering the fuck out of red states," said Democratic fundraiser Mike Nellis, "Democrats just flipped a Trump [+11] Iowa Senate seat. That's what they're afraid of."
With Drey's victory, Iowa Democrats have now won four consecutive special elections held in the state, flipping two other Republican-held seats. Riding that wave of optimism, they now have their sights set on a greater target: Iowa's two-term senator Joni Ernst, who comes up for reelection in 2026.
Defeating Ernst would be a significant boost to Democrats' efforts to regain control of the Senate in 2026. That effort may have been helped along by Ernst herself, who responded to questions at a town hall earlier this year about her support for savage cuts to healthcare in the GOP's One Big Beautiful Bill Act by callously remarking, "Well, we are all going to die."
An internal poll published Tuesday showed Democratic state senator Zach Wahls, one of many Democrats vying for the party's nomination, edging Ernst out in a hypothetical general election. Other polls show the race to be within the margin of error.
In a video posted to X, Wahls said Tuesday's Democratic victory is further evidence that "the state is in play," after not having elected a Democratic senator since 2008.
"Iowans are sick of the inability of the current administration and politicians like Joni Ernst to deal with rising costs. They are sick of the corruption, and they are ready for change," Wahls said. "We are going to flip this US Senate seat, the exact same way that Catelin Drey flipped her state Senate seat."
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Poll Shows GOP Senators Who Help Trump Gut Medicaid Could Pay Dearly
"Now is the time for these senators to practice what they preach. A vote for the current bill is a vote to take away their constituents' healthcare—full stop."
Jun 06, 2025
New survey data out Friday shows that Republicans are wrong if they remain unconcerned about public sentiment as it relates to the evisceration of Medicaid or healthcare support systems that would result from passage of their colossal legislation now making its way through Congress—a bill that, if passed, would see coverage stripped from an estimated 11-16 million people in the coming years.
According to new KFF Health Tracking Poll released Friday, anxiety is high among voters, across the political spectrum, about the negative impacts resulting from cuts to Medicaid or reductions in support for marketplace insurance plans supported by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
"Most of the public is worried about the consequences of significant reductions in federal Medicaid spending, including among many groups that would be directly impacted by the cuts," KFF noted in its release of the new survey data. "Partisanship drives these attitudes to a certain extent, but about two-thirds or more of Republicans enrolled in Medicaid and those with lower incomes are worried that Medicaid spending reductions would hurt their families and their communities."
KFF added that most adults in the country, based on the poll's findings, "are worried significant reductions in federal Medicaid spending will lead to more uninsured people and will strain healthcare providers in their communities. About 7 in 10 adults (72%) are worried that a significant reduction in federal funding for Medicaid would lead to an increase in the share of uninsured children and adults in the U.S., including nearly half (46%) who are 'very worried' and 1 in 4 (25%) who are 'somewhat worried.'"
KFF notes that more than a quarter of Medicaid enrollees in the country are Republican, including 1 in 5 who identify with President Donald Trump's far-right MAGA movement. At the same time, nearly half of likely ACA marketplace enrollees identify as Republican.
The new poll results, as The Washington Post notes:
The findings illustrate the political perils of upending the public health insurance program as Senate Republicans feud over Medicaid cuts. As they face pressure to slash spending to finance President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and immigration legislation, they risk alienating their own supporters who depend on the program.
"Medicaid is really a popular program, and a large majority of Americans do not want to see decreases in spending," Liz Hamel, director of public opinion and survey research at KFF, told the Post. "These findings reflect that many people, whether or not they rely on Medicaid, see it as vital to their communities."
Tony Carrk, executive director of the progressive watchdog group Accountable.US, said Friday that Republicans in the Senate would be wise to stick to their public promises that Medicaid would not be cut or harmed, specifically referencing Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
"Now is the time for these Senators to practice what they preach," said Caark. "A vote for the current bill is a vote to take away their constituents' healthcare—full stop."
"If these senators do the right thing, they will save the healthcare of millions of people from Alaska to Maine," he added. "But if they throw their support behind this bill, not only will they have lied to the American people, they will be ripping healthcare from those who need it the most, while the richest Americans—including many of them—could financially benefit."
Last week, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) sparked fury when she said at a town hall, in response to a constituent warning that "people will die" if Medicaid cuts went through, that "we all are going to die."
On Capitol Hill this week, the advocacy group Social Security Works tried to catch up with Ernst about the comments, but she would not respond to questions.
"By the way," the group later posted, "Iowans are PISSED about sacrificing their Medicaid for a billionaire tax handout" and pointed to a local protest in Ernst's home state where community members rallied against cuts.
Citing a new study showing that more than 50,000 people a year will die prematurely if the Medicaid cuts proposed by Republicans goes through, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), said, “In the wealthiest country in the world, we should be guaranteeing health care to all as a human right, not taking health care away from millions of seniors and working families to pay for tax breaks for billionaires. As the Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, I will be doing everything that I can to see that this disastrous bill is defeated."
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Iowa Democrat JD Scholten Launches Senate Run After Joni Ernst Controversy
"I don't think there's anything worse that you could do than cut Medicaid, cut SNAP benefits for everyday Iowans just so you can give billionaires bigger tax breaks," Scholten said.
Jun 02, 2025
Iowa Democratic state Rep. JD Scholten, who represents parts of Sioux City, announced Monday that he is mounting a challenge to U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst—the Iowa Republican who is up for reelection in 2026 and who has come under scrutiny in recent days for comments she made downplaying constituent concerns over GOP efforts to cut Medicaid.
"After her comments over the weekend, I've been thinking about it for a while, but that's when I just said: This is unacceptable and you've gotta jump in," Scholten said, according to the Iowa outlet The Sioux City Journal. "At the end of the day, though, it's not about her, it's not about me, it's about the people of Iowa deserving better.
"I don't think there's anything worse that you could do than cut Medicaid, cut SNAP benefits for everyday Iowans just so you can give billionaires bigger tax breaks," he added, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. "That is not Iowa in my mind."
Scholten has served in the state House since 2023. In 2024, Scholten won his contest by 6.9 points in a district that U.S. President Donald Trump won.
The Democrat has run twice for Iowa's 4th Congressional District. In 2020, he lost to Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra, and in 2018, he narrowly lost to then-longtime Republican Rep. Steve King. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) campaigned for Scholten during his 2018 bid and Rolling Stone once described Scholten as a "prairie populist."
Scholten, 45, is a pitcher for the baseball team the Sioux City Explorers.
If he prevailed over Ernst, he would take over a seat that she has held since 2015.
Ernst spoke at a town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa last week and was responding to a question about the impact of the U.S. House-passed GOP reconciliation bill, which includes cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, when an attendee shouted that "people will die" as a result of the cuts.
Then Ernst said, "Well, we all are going to die."
Ernst later posted a video on Instagram, in which she offered a mock apology.
"I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth," she said. "So I apologize, and I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well." The video appeared to be filmed in a cemetery.
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'What a Shitty Person': Joni Ernst Turns 'We're All Going to Die' Non-Apology Into a Twofer
"Against all odds, Joni Ernst has made it worse."
Jun 01, 2025
Just a day after Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa generated nationwide disgust by suggesting in a town hall event that deadly GOP cuts to Medicaid are not that bad because people "are all going to die" anyway, her trolling non-apology posted online over the weekend only made things worse for many critics as she joked about the Tooth Fairy and hinted that people concerned about ripping healthcare away from tens of millions of people—including children, the poor, and the elderly—are somehow not that bright.
The optics of Ernst's sarcastic video, which appeared to be filmed in a cemetery with grave markers in the background, did not go over well.
While Ernst—who is up for reelection in 2026—says at the outset that she is "sincerely" sorry for her remarks on Friday, it becomes clear the apology is nothing but a troll of her critics when she adds that she "assumed that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth."
"So I apologize," said Ernst. "And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the Tooth Fairy as well."
The legislation Republicans are now pushing through Congress, if signed into law, would result in devastating cuts to Medicaid that experts estimate would result in increased preventable deaths—all to pay for billions of dollars in additional tax giveaways for the nation's richest people and corporations.
New analysis released by the Center for American Progress in May show an estimated "6.9 million people losing coverage by 2034 as a result of congressional Republicans' proposed paperwork requirements would lead to more than 21,600 avoidable deaths nationally each year. This translates to lives lost in every congressional district with Medicaid expansion enrollees."
As columnist Mike Lofgren, a former Republican staffer in Congress, wrote for Common Dreams last month, it is not a stretch to say that the contemporary GOP shows by its policy agenda that it "wants you to die."
To make his argument, Logfren writes, "If someone commits a reckless act whose adverse consequences are clearly foreseeable, then for all practical purposes, that person willed the consequences. This principle—who wills the means wills the ends—is applicable in law, but should also be valid in everyday life. It should particularly apply to the behavior of public officials who wield power over the rest of us."
It was the point the audience member at the town hall Friday was clearly trying to make when she yelled, "People are going to die." What's striking is how explicit Ernst's disregard for that warning was in that moment and—perhaps more startling and concerning—in the days since.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) pushed back on Ernst's Friday comments by telling CNN in a weekend interview, "I think everybody in that audience knows that they're going to die. They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40."
Chris Murphy on Joni Ernst: "I think everybody in that audience knows they're going to die, they would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90 instead of dying at 40. And the reality is that when you lose your healthcare, you are much more at risk of early death." pic.twitter.com/TBmZOl4wJr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 1, 2025
Ernst's comment made headlines nationwide, including in the Des Moines Register, the largest paper in her home state of Iowa.
In a takedown of Ernst's scripted performance in Saturday's video, political podcaster Fred Wellman, part of the Meidas Touch media network, concluded that the entire episode not ony proves Ernst is emblematic of an increasingly heartless and cruel Republican Party—"this is MAGA," he said—but also that she is a very "shitty person" on an individual level:
"She thought it was so clever," said Wellman. "She owned them libs, didn't she? She's owning them libs. But guess what? She's up for reelection, folks. She's sure she's gonna win, because it's Iowa, what could go wrong?"
"Let's make sure it goes wrong," said Wellman.
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GOP's Latest Pitch for Gutting Medicaid and Food Aid? 'Well, We All Are Going to Die'
"We're at the point where a U.S. senator is saying healthcare and hunger don't matter because we all die eventually."
May 30, 2025
Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst on Friday brushed off her constituents' concerns about the life-threatening consequences of her party's proposed cuts to Medicaid and federal nutrition assistance, telling a town hall audience, "Well, we all are going to die."
Ernst's remark came after a person in the crowd warned that "people will die" if the safety net cuts proposed in the House-passed budget reconciliation package become law.
The Iowa senator began by waving away the crowd's response, saying, "People are not... " After trailing off, Ernst said facetiously that "we all are going to die."
"So, for heaven's sakes," she added with a smile.
MAJOR BREAKING: In a shocking moment, Republican Senator Joni Ernst had the worst possible response when warned that cutting Medicaid would cause people to die: “Well, we all are going to die.”
The GOP health care plan is simple: suffer and die quietly. pic.twitter.com/xT0L6D3JlH
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) May 30, 2025
Ernst, echoing Republican leaders, repeatedly denied that the reconciliation bill would cut Medicaid or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, claiming the legislation only targets "overpayments" and those who are currently on the programs' rolls but aren't eligible.
Throughout the town hall, people in the audience called Ernst a "liar" and shouted in protest as she attempted to justify the reconciliation bill's safety net cuts.
As written, the GOP measure includes roughly $1 trillion in combined cuts to Medicaid and SNAP—the largest-ever spending reductions for the programs—as well as draconian work reporting requirements that analysts say would strip benefits from millions of people across the country.
The bill also includes a provision that would require some low-income Americans to pay more for Medicaid benefits—an effective cut.
"We're at the point where a U.S. senator is saying healthcare and hunger don't matter because we all die eventually," the progressive media organization More Perfect Union wrote on social media in response to Ernst's comments.
"Joni Ernst is worth at least $7 million," added the advocacy group Social Security Works. "She won't die due to lack of healthcare. But she thinks you should."
Research published earlier this month found that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act has saved tens of thousands of lives since 2010—an indication that the severe Medicaid cuts included in the GOP reconciliation package could have deadly consequences.
The Center for American Progress recently estimated that the work requirements Republicans are seeking to impose on many Medicaid recipients "would lead to more than 21,600 avoidable deaths nationally each year."
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Outside First DOGE Caucus Meeting, Republican Says 'There Will Be Some Cuts' to Social Security
"I think these should be on the table," GOP Rep. Greg Lopez said of Social Security and Medicare.
Dec 18, 2024
A House Republican said Tuesday that he believes there "will be some cuts" to Social Security and Medicare as he entered a conference room at the U.S. Capitol for the first meeting of the DOGE Caucus, a new congressional group formed to support an advisory commission led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Outside the conference room, Social Security Works executive director Alex Lawson asked Republicans passing through whether they would uphold President-elect Donald Trump's campaign pledge to protect Social Security and Medicare.
One lawmaker, Rep. Greg Lopez (R-Colo.), told Lawson that "when we look to reduce our national debt, I think these should be on the table," referring to the two programs.
"I am a strong advocate of discussing this and reevaluating them, and I do believe, at the end of the day, there will be some cuts," Lopez added.
Asked if cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be "on the table" for the DOGE Caucus, Lopez replied, "We're about to find out."
BREAKING: @RepGregLopez says outside the first meeting of the DOGE Caucus that "there will be some cuts" to Social Security and Medicare.
HANDS OFF OUR EARNED BENEFITS! pic.twitter.com/NFYjA6hdEo
— Social Security Works (@SSWorks) December 17, 2024
The House Delivering Outstanding Government Efficiency Caucus was founded last month by Reps. Aaron Bean (R-Fla.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) with the stated goal of backing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency "in its mission to dismantle the out-of-control government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies."
Musk and Ramaswamy, Trump's picks to lead the advisory panel, have openly attacked Social Security in recent weeks, intensifying advocates' warnings that the commission is a ploy to enact steep cuts to critical antipoverty programs.
Sessions, co-chair of the DOGE Caucus, refused to answer when Lawson pressed him on whether he would commit to protecting Social Security and Medicare in line with Trump's rhetoric on the campaign trail.
"Most of the responses have been what I would say are no comments," Lawson said at the entrance of the DOGE Caucus meeting. "That's the safest position for a member of Congress, to have no position that they have to defend in front of their constituents."
"If they had their way," Lawson added, "they'll close every door and make all the decisions out of the light and the watch of their constituents."
The House DOGE Caucus is expected to hit triple-digit membership shortly, and its makeup is almost entirely Republican. Just three Democrats have joined thus far: Reps. Steven Horsford of Nevada, Val Hoyle of Oregon, and Jared Moskowitz of Florida.
Horsford said in a statement after Tuesday's caucus meeting that he is in the group "to defend the working families in Nevada that I represent."
In an appearance on Fox News following the meeting, Bean said that "we had a packed caucus room" and that attendance was higher than he expected, with over 50 Republicans and three Democrats. Asked to provide some specifics on programs that could be cut, the first category Bean mentioned was "education."
There's also a Senate DOGE Caucus led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa.), who has previously said she's open to Social Security privatization and argued lawmakers should "sit down behind closed doors" to "have an open and honest conversation" about changes to the New Deal program.
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'Code for Massive Cuts': Audio Shows GOP Sen. Joni Ernst Telling Donors She Wants 'Changes' to Medicare, Medicaid
"Again, Joni Ernst has shown that she is willing to push our families into poverty with a smile. The programs she plans to cut are a lifeline for millions of Americans. She should be ashamed."
Feb 13, 2020
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa told donors at a fundraiser in Washington, D.C. last March that federal spending on non-discretionary programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security is "out of control" and will require "changes" in the future.
That's according to a 55-second audio clip published Wednesday by Iowa Starting Line. In the recording, Ernst is asked by an attendee whether she is on board with Sen. David Perdue's (R-Ga.) call for cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.
"I think we all are because we understand that our non-discretionary spending is growing like this," replied Ernst, who is up for reelection in 2020. "Everyone focuses on discretionary spending because that is what we can control in Congress. The rest is on autopilot and is out of control. We have to figure out ways to honor the commitments that have been made, but make changes for the future. How we do that, I don't know."
Progressive advocacy group Social Security Works tweeted that "changes" is "code for massive cuts."
Kimberly Graham, one of five Democrats vying to unseat Ernst in November, tweeted Thursday that "we barely invest in the health and well-being of our people as it is, and Joni Ernst thinks even that is too much."
"Joni doesn't work for Iowans," added Graham. "Joni works for the wealthy donors that fill her campaign coffers."
The audio clip comes months after the Democratic super PAC American Bridge posted a video of Ernst telling a town hall audience in August that members of Congress should negotiate changes to Social Security "behind closed doors" to avoid scrutiny from advocacy groups and the press.
"The minute you say we need to address Social Security, the media is hammering you, the opposing party is hammering you--'there goes granny over a cliff,'" said Ernst, who has in the past expressed support for privatizing Social Security.
"There is a real issue out there," added the Republican senator, "and as long as we are being hammered as members of Congress for even saying we need to do something about it, you're not going to find people that are willing to step forward and do it."
Watch:
Eddie Mauro, another Democrat running for Ernst's Senate seat, said the Republican "should be ashamed" of her position on Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security spending.
"Again, Joni Ernst has shown that she is willing to push our families into poverty with a smile," Mauro tweeted Wednesday. "The programs she plans to cut are a lifeline for millions of Americans."
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Sen. Joni Ernst Warns GOP Could Weaponize Impeachment 'Immediately' If Democrat Wins White House
"For all that talk about 'overturning the will of the voter,' Senate GOP seems pretty okay with impeaching a future president... as long as that president is a Democrat."
Feb 02, 2020
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst warned Sunday that the GOP could swiftly move to weaponize the impeachment process if a Democrat wins the presidency in 2020, proclaiming "this door of impeachable whatever has been opened."
Specifically invoking former Vice President Joe Biden, Ernst told Bloomberg News in an interview that "we can have a situation where if it should ever be President Biden, that immediately, people, right the day after he would be elected would be saying, 'Well, we're going to impeach him.'"
The Iowa Republican, who has said she plans to vote to acquit President Donald Trump this week, claimed Biden could be impeached "for being assigned to take on Ukrainian corruption yet turning a blind eye to Burisma because his son [Hunter Biden] was on the board making over a million dollars a year."
Critics said Ernst's comments, which came on the eve of the Iowa Democratic caucuses, lay bare the emptiness of GOP complaints that the impeachment of Trump represents an effort to overturn the will of voters.
"For all that talk about 'overturning the will of the voter,' Senate GOP seems pretty okay with impeaching a future president... as long as that president is a Democrat," tweeted Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Democratic presidential primary.
"OK, so impeachment is only 'overturning the will of the voters' if a Republican is elected. Got it," wrote Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg.
In a separate interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," Ernst defended Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his Democratic political rivals while conceding that perhaps "he could have done it through different channels."
Senate Republicans largely united late Friday in voting down a motion to allow witnesses to testify in Trump's impeachment trial, a move Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups decried as an "abhorrent dereliction of duty." Every other Senate impeachment trial in U.S. history has included witnesses, according to an analysis released last week by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
"This is a crisis of democracy," By the People executive director Alexandra Flores-Quilty said following the Friday vote.
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Sen. Joni Ernst Admits GOP Using Impeachment Trial to Damage Biden in 2020
"Trump is trying to use the trial to do what Ukraine wouldn't—destroy his political rivals."
Jan 27, 2020
After President Donald Trump's legal team on Monday completed the second day of their impeachment defense--which largely consisted of attacks on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter--Republican Sen. Joni Ernst told reporters that she is "really interested to see" how team Trump's performance at the Senate trial "informs and influences the Iowa caucus voters, those Democratic caucus-goers."
Ernst's remarks, which came just a week before the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses, were widely viewed as an open admission that Trump's attorneys and the Republican Party are using the Senate impeachment trial as an opportunity to damage Biden at the polls.
"This is saying the quiet part out loud," tweeted MSNBC correspondent Garrett Haake, a sentiment that was echoed by others.
"Here is Joni Ernst screaming the quiet part into a bullhorn," said Kaili Joy Gray, executive editor of The American Independent, in response to the Iowa Republican's comments.
Ernst's comments run counter to the longstanding White House and Republican narrative that Trump's effort to pressure Ukraine to launch investigations--for which he was impeached by the House of Representatives last month--was a genuine attempt to root out corruption, not a politically motivated ploy to harm Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Like Ernst, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) also invoked the presidential election following hours of arguments by Trump's defense team, which includes Pam Bondi, Eric Herschmann, Alan Dershowitz, and Ken Starr.
"I was watching Elizabeth [Warren] and Bernie [Sanders] and Michael [Bennet] and Amy [Klobuchar] and they were really eyes wide open during that part of it," Barrasso told reporters, referring to Trump attorney Pam Bondi's presentation, which heavily focused on Biden an his son.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said as he watched "Bondi and the other Trump lawyers spend most of the day savaging the Bidens (as expected)... it become crystal clear to me: Trump is trying to use the trial to do what Ukraine wouldn't--destroy his political rivals."
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