A new name has emerged as a potential running mate for former President Donald Trump, even as others appear to be moving up his shrinking list.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) would be “extremely honored” to become Trump’s running mate, which would make her the second woman to be a potential GOP vice president behind then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who ran in 2008 with then-Sen. John McCain.
“I think there are a lot of really wonderful people who are being considered,” Ernst told Breitbart News after being asked if she would accept the job of being Trump’s running mate if it were offered to her. “And I think that anyone who is offered [the] position, whether it would be me or someone else, I think that it would be such an extreme honor to have that opportunity laid out. I certainly would consider that.”
“I appreciate serving the people of Iowa. I’m so thankful to be in the United States Senate,” said Ernst, a U.S. Army veteran who offered a Memorial Day tribute to all American men and women who have died in battle for their country.
She also addressed the growing Iranian threat, criticizing President Joe Biden’s approach as “absolutely wrong.” She argued that Biden needed to stand up to the regime and reinstate the sanctions that then-President Trump had imposed during his term.
The U.S. should “mak[e] sure that Iran can no longer do harm to its own people, but more importantly, to Israel and to American service members,” Ernst said, referencing the three American soldiers who were killed by a drone attack by an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq on the Jordanian border in January.
The senator also commented on the surge of antisemitism on American campuses associated with anti-Israel protests and encampments. “We are encouraging the filing of complaints to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” she said.
Ernst also discussed her efforts to hold the federal government and the Chinese Communist Party accountable for the mismanagement of viral research leading up to the coronavirus pandemic. She has spearheaded initiatives to prevent the Wuhan Institute of Virology and EcoHealth Alliance from receiving additional research funding. EcoHealth Alliance had been, she said, “doing studies on gain-of-function,” which “we believe started the COVID-19 pandemic,” per Breitbart.
