Joni Ernst Sells Out Iowa In RNC Speech

by Pat Rynard (Iowa Starting Line) Sen. Joni Ernst’s undying loyalty to Pres. Donald Trump was rewarded tonight with a high-profile speech at the Republican National Convention. She repaid Trump for the political boost to her reelection campaign by betraying the Iowans she’s serving, vouching for the President on the exact issues he has failed to deliver on for Iowa.

On topics of ethanol, trade and disaster relief support, Ernst credited Trump with sweeping successes for Iowa while leaving out huge aspects of his record, including ones that she’s been an outspoken opponent on.

Were you only to listen to Ernst’s Wednesday night speech, you might come away with the impression that Trump’s presidency has been an unqualified success for farmers who rely on ethanol production.

“He implemented the sale of E-15 fuel year-round,” Ernst told the country. “That means more choices for you at the pump, and more jobs for farmers in the heartland. This is something the Obama-Biden Administration failed to do in eight years.”

Missing from her remarks were the many ways in which Trump has consistently undermined the biofuels industry. Ernst made no mention of the countless small refinery waivers that Trump’s EPA had approved, far more than the Obama-Biden Administration ever did. They’ve cost the country billions of gallons in ethanol production and caused several Iowa facilities to shut down.

Trump himself had just embarrassed Ernst on the topic earlier this month. When the President made a brief visit to Cedar Rapids to get an update on the derecho storm damage, Ernst took the chance to press Trump on gap-year waivers that were threatening to further damage ethanol production. Trump publicly told Ernst he would “speak to them myself” to get it fixed. Just days later, rather than taking action to deny those, the EPA announced dozens of new waivers they were considering.

But like (Governor Kim) Reynolds, Ernst left out the part where Trump first blatantly lied by tweeting that he had signed the “FULL” request when in reality he had approved only $45 million of the $3.9 billion that Iowa asked for.

And Trump has only since approved the individual assistance portion for one of the 27 counties in Reynolds’ request. Reynolds herself admitted this week that many Iowans who suffered damage in the unprecedented storm won’t end up getting federal aid as Trump is unlikely to approve the individual assistance for every county.

As Ernst’s speech tonight reminded us, it’s not clear Iowa has an ally in their own U.S. Senate seat either. READ MORE