Senator Ernst Tells Newsmax that Biden’s Soft Approach to Iran Is Ineffective

The United States must take a firmer stance against Iran and its backing of terrorist organizations that are attacking American assets and troops rather than the weak reactions that are taking place under President Joe Biden, Sen. Joni Ernst told Newsmax on Saturday.

“We know Iran is backing the Houthis,” the Iowa Republican commented on Newsmax’s “America Right Now.” “We know they back Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah.”

This past week, Houthi forces in Yemen shot down an American drone, and U.S. bases have been attacked more than 40 times since the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. In response, under the Biden administration, the military bombed an empty weapons depot used by Iranian proxies in Syria, and Ernst said that response was not enough.

“This is just an example of America’s weak leadership on the world stage,” Ernst said. “So many of these actions would not be happening if we had a very firm, resolute president who would go after the root source or cause of these attacks.”

But Biden has “allowed this to happen far too often without repercussions to any of those terrorist organizations,” she said.

“This president has to get serious about deterrence and striking back,” Ernst said. “We shouldn’t be going after empty warehouses. We should be going after the manufacturing spots for these warehouses. We should be going after the leadership who condone and conduct these attacks.”

The United States could also cut off funding for such attacks by enforcing sanctions against Iran, the senator said, but “we have a president who is too weak or unwilling to execute those plans.”

Ernst added that she disagrees with the Biden administration’s actions toward Israel through its demands for a humanitarian pause and other matters.

“We would never expect our friends and allies to dictate to us how we run and win our wars, and we should not do this with Israel,” said Ernst. “I think it’s highly inappropriate. What we should be saying to the world is that we stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel and wish for them the defeat of Hamas in this war.”

She added that Republicans in the Senate will be more forceful in calling for sanctions against Iran.

“Republicans have been very direct when it comes to the president and his weakness, so we should see more of those calls,” she said. “I have been leading efforts as well on additional sanctions against Iran and enforcing the sanctions that are already on the books … I’ve had a number of Democrats that have joined me in those efforts as well. They see how weak the president is, so we’re are reaching a tipping point where not just Republicans, but Democrats, are calling for enforcement.”

Ernst, a 23-year U.S. Army Reserve veteran, also on Saturday addressed the all-time low in military recruitment and blamed that on Biden’s “weak leadership” and on his prioritizing “wokeness and green ideology in the military instead of focusing on making our military the most lethal fighting force on the place on the face of the planet.”

“We need to be backing our men and women in uniform instead of forcing them to go through woke classes,” she said. “We need different civilian leadership that understands the only way our world is a stable and peaceful place is when we exhibit strength through our military.”

Meanwhile, Ernst said her service in the military is important to her and she wanted to thank other members of the military for defending the United States.

“We live in the greatest nation on the face of the planet. And it’s only because of those who are willing to wear the uniform so we can maintain our values, our ideologies, and our freedoms,” she said.

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