You have to hand it to MAGA Nation. They sure know how to find them. From the folks that gave you Pete Hegseth, Robert Kennedy Jr., Kristi Noem, Karoline Leavitt, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, they have once again recruited a real winner for their “Wall of Shame, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. In the course of a weekend, she managed to anger many of her constituents.

Ernst entered the Washington scene just ahead of the MAGA Bandwagon. Still, she is now welcomed with open arms, especially after her conversation with a constituent on Friday and the aftermath of the incident. She has definitely earned herself a gold key from President Trump. However, she also earned the scorn of many of her constituents, who will likely remember her comments when her job review (re-election bid) comes before the Iowa voters in 2026.

MAGA Senator

You have to give Joni Ernst credit; she bravely decided to host a Town Hall Meeting in Parkersburg, Iowa, last Friday morning. She is brave because most of her Republican brethren in Congress have run for the hills at the mere mention of the words “constituent meeting.” You can’t blame them. That’s what MAGA lackey Little Mikey Johnson and John Thune are advising them to do. Better to hide than have to spend an evening trying to defend Trump’s draconian social safety net cuts, illegal deportations, and wrongful terminations of federal employees.

But I digress. So, at the Town Hall, Ernst attempted to explain to her constituents that the MAGA-supported cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would only affect individuals who were not eligible for the benefits. The crowd was raucous as they tried to make sense of the dribble coming out of Ernst’s mouth when someone from the audience yelled, “People will die” because of these cuts.

Foot Firmly in Mouth

And Ernst’s response to this statement. “Well we all are going to die.” As cold and heartless of a MAGA comment as you can get. But Ernst had time to scramble. This event took place in a small Iowa town with minimal media coverage, So the senator and her staff had time to play damage control. So, she filmed a video the next day to sort out the matter and possibly issue an apology. Her brief comments did neither. In trying to clarify her comment from the day before, she ended up digging a bigger hole for herself on the video address.

“When a woman who was extremely distraught screamed out from the back corner of the auditorium: ‘People are going to die’. I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this earth.” Ruthless, uncaring comment? Embarrassing? With the following statement, she buried herself completely.

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, but for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Ah! The old MAGA religion card. You knew it was coming.

Aftermath

The reverberations from Ernst’s disastrous weekend are still being felt. She now has not only one Democratic opponent for her Senate seat but two. Immediately after the brouhaha, Democratic Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, announced that he is a candidate for the U.S. Senate currently held by Ernst. Nathan Sage, director of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, entered the race in May. State Sen. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, and state Rep. Josh Turek, D-Council Bluffs, have indicated that they may also join the race.

And following Scholten’s entry into the race, Democratic election handicapper Sabato’s Crystal Ball moved the Iowa 2026 Senate race from “safe Republican” to “likely Republican.” Their explanation.

“Though this was not the most artful example of politicking that we’ve ever seen, Ernst’s comments alone also did not really tempt us to immediately move off our Safe Republican rating for her race,” Sabato’s analyst J. Miles Coleman wrote in the ratings revision. “However, earlier this week, Democrats got a more proven recruit in state Rep. J.D. Scholten.”

MAGA Nation will have to pull out all of the stops next year to help Ms. Ernst retain her Senate seat.