Pruitt as ‘Swampy as You Get’ in Washington

“He is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, D.C., and if the president wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet.”

— Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), blasting allegations of ethical misconduct by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Bloomberg reports. “Pruitt’s tenure at the Environmental Protection Agency is under intensifying scrutiny, with at least 10 federal investigations probing his $50-per-night rental of a bedroom in a Capitol Hill condominium from a lobbyist, his frequent taxpayer-funded travel and his spending decisions.”

Iowans Set to Elect Tea Party Senate Candidate Who Claims the Right to Shoot Other Government Officials

Ernst addresses a rally in support of gun rights after a gunman killed 12 people in a Colorado movie theatre in 2012
Ernst addresses a rally in support of gun rights after a gunman killed 12 people in a Colorado movie theatre in 2012

During the 2010 midterms, Nevada tea party extremist Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee in the U.S. Senate race, made a series of gaffes that cratered her opportunity to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The best remembered of these were quotes that surfaced in which she suggested “Second Amendment” remedies might be required both to deal with the “tyrannical” federal government (read: “Obamacare”) and to unseat Sen. Reid if voters foolishly chose to reelect him.

In this cycle, a tea party candidate for the U.S. Senate in Iowa has made a similar, though more oblique, statement that has barely caused a stir. At a rally sponsored by the National Rifle Association about a month after a shooter opened fire in an Aurora, Co., movie theatre, killing 12 people in 2012, Joni Ernst — who, as a member of the Iowa Senate, is a government official herself — claimed the right to take up arms against other government officials:

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Ernst Doesn’t Mind Being Compared with Palin

Well, I am flattered because she is a strong leader. I am a strong independent leader. I am a strong female independent leader. And I do believe they use that as a distraction. Rather than focus on me, they’re focusing on someone else. She is the kind of politician I admire because she speaks what’s on her mind.

— Iowa U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst (R), quoted by the New York Times, on being compared to Sarah Palin.