Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) slammed Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent claim that the United States is in a better position globally compared to four years ago, citing the numerous conflicts that have occurred since then.
Blinken made his claim in an op-ed, “America’s Strategy of Renewal,” in which he argued the Biden administration has put the U.S. in a “stronger geopolitical position” than former President Donald Trump’s leadership did. Ernst rebuked this notion, arguing the president’s leadership has led to “absolute appeasement” of the U.S.’s enemies, including Iran.
“So they have continued to allow funding for Iran through the illicit sale of oil,” Ernst said on Fox Business’s Mornings with Maria Bartiromo. “We know when President Donald Trump was in office, he put them in a box. The world was safer, Iran was under control, we pushed back against China. We didn’t see Russia going into Ukraine, and we certainly didn’t have the Gaza Strip and West Bank in an absolute mess.”
Ernst noted how over 40 U.S. residents were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by the Hamas terrorist group, which killed roughly 1,400 people overall. She added that this group is funded by Iran and questioned why the U.S. has not issued retribution for supporting Hamas’s attack.
“We are not in a better position, I don’t know what Secretary Blinken is talking about,” Ernst said.
The Iowa senator also addressed the newly enacted port strike by the International Longshoremen’s Association, stating it could affect shipments for the U.S. military. Due to this strike, overseas military shipments will need to be delivered without using ships.
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On Tuesday night, Iran launched roughly 200 ballistic missiles at Israel, with the latter country’s military thwarting most of the assault thanks to help from the U.S. Trump cited the attack as another instance of global conflict arising under President Joe Biden’s watch, as well as a reason for why Vice President Kamala Harris should not be elected president.
Former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley has similarly warned about the escalation of conflict in the Middle East under the current administration’s leadership, stating that “Israel does not trust Biden and Harris because they haven’t been there.”