As you'll read in an upcoming post, Will Cain asked for the logic of Donald Trump achieving a huge win and then Republican senators trying to hand him a loss first thing. Republicans love to lose. Democrats vote in lockstep, always. There's never any dissent.
There are some doubts that Pete Hegseth will be confirmed by the Senate, which the Republicans would then control. But then there are the usual suspects — Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell — who seem determined to scuttle Hegseth's nomination.
Perhaps the biggest holdout is Rep. Joni Ernst. She met with Hegseth yesterday morning and had a very thorough discussion, but she's still not convinced to support him. Ernst appeared on Fox News to explain:
🚨Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst — who happily voted for LLoyd Austin to run DoD —
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) December 5, 2024
— explains that right now, she is not a “yes” vote for Pete Hegseth. pic.twitter.com/zlPsyj7tgc
Of course, she happily voted for Lloyd Austin, who received 93 votes for confirmation. Republicans will always happily roll over and vote with the Democrats — they have no concept of winning. The people elected Donald Trump to make choices like these, but these senators don't seem to care.
Time to make her the next Liz Cheney
— Hunter Eagleman™ (@Hunter_Eagleman) December 5, 2024
It's about time to start physically dragging these grifters out of office.
— Blaine Stewart (@BlaineStewart16) December 5, 2024
Oh look, she's up for re-election in 2026. Be a shame if she got primaried.
— Tim (@TimTheWitness) December 5, 2024
It's time to get these RINOs out of the senate.
— Ellie A (@EllieGAnders) December 5, 2024
Iowa voted overwhelmingly for Trump. She needs to represent the people of Iowa and vote yes on Pete.
Pete Hegseth is the litmus test for Senators. Vote against him and you’re voting against Donald Trump and the people who voted for him.
— The Right Answer (@theright_answer) December 5, 2024
This clearly is about way more than BS allegations from unnamed sources.
Extortion is a dangerous crime.
— Montgomery Granger (@mjgranger1) December 5, 2024
What's interesting is that she won't say what her issue is with Hegseth?
— Cobra Kai (@CobraKai_22) December 5, 2024
He drank a few beers on St. Patrick's Day after work.
She voted to confirm Garland as well.. she’s stonewalling and it’s appalling.
— 🇺🇸 Red, White & Blue 🇺🇸 (@kris10ryan54) December 5, 2024
@joniernst voted for Merrick Garland, Lloyd Austin, Pete Buttigieg, Gina Raimondo, and Janet Yellen. Now, she has the audacity to suggest she knows better than President Trump. If no one else, she needs to go in '26. #RINO
— Ronald Smith (@Rqsmith55Smith) December 5, 2024
She seems determined to be primaried.
— Implicit Truths (@CrayCrayBlocker) December 5, 2024
And if she is primaried, Elon Musk will spend $100 million to get her opponent elected.
She's angling for a payout. That's how DC works. When you have leverage you use it.
— Scories (@ScottRies7) December 5, 2024
She wants the job herself. That's part of the problem.
— Cletus Roscoe (@CletusRoscoe1) December 5, 2024
Joni Ernst doesn't care that Austin went four days AWOL either.
Senator Joni Ernst says she supports trans people in the military and claims our military isn’t woke.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) December 5, 2024
She voted to confirm Biden’s disastrous pick of Lloyd Austin for DoD but won’t say if she will confirm @PeteHegseth.
Our military missed recruiting goals, hired drag queens to… pic.twitter.com/DuidCNPyiy
… hired drag queens to recruit soldiers and perform on bases, teaches servicemembers about pronoun usage and CRT trash, pays for s*x change surgeries, labeled pro-life organizations t*rrorists, and the list goes on and on.
Our military is woke. Our military has become a laughingstock. Senator Ernst apparently doesn’t see a problem.
Ernst can’t be primaried fast enough
— Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) December 5, 2024
What does she stand to gain by not offering a resounding yes? Who is in her pocket and why?
— Nikolas (@Nikolaoz) December 5, 2024
It would be nice if she listened to her constituents and stood with Trump. Instead, she's holding Hegseth's confirmation hostage, but for what?
I’m still hoping that @SenJoniErnst comes to her senses and does her duty to support the will of her voters. She’s a colonel too, and I’d like to think that means something.
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 6, 2024
But she’s really getting a lot of negative attention, not just on @PeteHegseth but on a lot of her votes…
… but on a lot of her votes in the past. This is bringing down a spotlight on her record and what it’s revealing is not a senator who is truly in line with her very red state. For the life of me, I don’t know why she would do that to herself with a primary coming up, and there will be a primary challenge if she doesn’t get it together and get on the team.
Again, she can be a hero or she can be a zero. Colonel, you need to choose wisely.
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