Exclusive – Joni Ernst Slams Biden’s ‘Continued Appeasement’ of Iran: ‘Absolute Failure’ on Foreign Policy

President Joe Biden is an “absolute failure” on foreign policy, according to Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst, who blasted the current administration’s continued policy of “appeasement” of Tehran and its focus on “soccer moms” instead of Iran-funded domestic terrorist proxies that threaten the U.S. and Israel, as she called for “strong leadership” in the White House to “stand behind Israel.”

Senator Joni Ernst, who serves as co-chairwoman of the Abraham Accords caucus, expressed her concerns over the Biden administration’s unwillingness to stand up to Iran — whose proxies Hamas and Hezbollah have ignited the Middle East — in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News on Wednesday.

“It’s concerning to me because there should be absolutely no daylight between the president’s message and the leadership in Israel on Iran and Hamas,” she said. “And all of us have wondered how long it’s going to take for President Biden to crack, and we’re already starting to see that.” 

She explained that President Biden “needs to be out there decrying Hamas and talking about how Israel should be wiping them off the face of the planet, because that’s the message coming from Israel.” 

“There is no excuse for a terrorist organization that beheads babies, rapes women, and kidnapps the elderly,” she added. “This is not OK, and Israel will never be safe until Hamas is completely gone.”

Questioning why the Biden administration has allowed Tehran to continue funding and protecting these terrorist groups “for years,” Ernst noted that “it’s pretty telling when here in the United States Senate, I have Democrats that partner with me on letters and legislation pushing the Biden administration to do the right thing when it comes to Iran.” 

Ernst, who had just returned from a trip to the Middle East where she led a bipartisan mission and met with Americans in Israel as well as Israeli leaders,including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, spoke out against the current administration’s policy of “continued appeasement” toward Iran — the largest state sponsor of terrorism worldwide.

Over the last week, I’ve led a bipartisan, bicameral CODEL to the Middle East.

I was in #Israel earlier today to show my unwavering commitment to our allies and friends — including PM @netanyahu — and to hear directly from American citizens on the ground. pic.twitter.com/5YyOGfucW3

— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) October 10, 2023

“All you have to do is look back [at this administration’s actions and policies toward Iran] to continually backdoor the Iran nuclear agreement; you can look at their failure to enforce oil sanctions against Iran; you look at the appeasement when it comes to unfreezing $6 billion and doing hostage swaps with Iran,” she said.

“None of this is OK, and we know that Iran funds ninety-three percent of Hamas’s organization. We know that Iran funds one-hundred percent of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization. We know they fund Hezbollah, we know they fund the Houthis,” she added. 

According to Ernst, Iran’s aim in all these ventures is to “destabilize the Middle East,” noting especially its efforts to derail any Saudi-Israeli peace agreement.

“They fear peace, which is why I think they did what they did,” she said. “I don’t know if it was to derail the Saudi-Israeli peace agreement, but they fear peace because if there is peace and solidarity in that region, Iran’s power diminishes.”

She then called for “strong leadership” in the White House to stand behind Israel in its ongoing war on terror, something she insists “we don’t have right now.” 

“We [also] need strong leadership in Congress and we really need a House Speaker.  We need someone that can help wrangle the level of support that will be needed to sustain Israel,” she said. “That’s incredibly important.”

“So I don’t place any money on the White House, because I just think Joe Biden is an absolute failure when it comes to foreign policy,” she added. “We’ve heard that time and time again. He can’t lead on this. Again he’s already starting to fold like a cheap card table.”

Ernst lamented the current lack of leadership in the U.S.

“It’s just a shame that we don’t have stronger leadership when the world needs it the most; we just don’t have it. So it will fall on the shoulders of Congress and that’s why we need a strong Speaker,” she said. 

“I will be strong here in the Senate [and] I’ll continue speaking out against Iran and these terrorist proxies,” she said. “I will support Israel. I will support Ukraine. I’ll support Taiwan. I’m making that very clear. I wish President Joe Biden would do that too.” 

Addressing recent heightened security concerns over potential for terrorism in America after warnings from FBI head Chrispher Wray, Ernst expressed her fears of a “terrorist attack on our homeland,” noting that CBP [Customs and Border Protection] reported that in September alone “they caught 8,000 people coming across the border from the countries of national security risk to the United States, and that’s 1,000 more people than in August.” 

“So that is extremely concerning [because] those are just the ones that were interdicted,” she added. “We don’t know how many of those got-aways are from terrorist-based countries or those countries that want to do Israel harm; want to do the United States harm.” 

She also highlighted how the FBI has “focused so much on these soccer moms and PTA parents going to school board meetings, instead of focusing on the true risk in our homeland, which would be these terrorist proxies.” 

“So let’s get real, who’s the enemy here in the United States? It’s not parents,” she added. “It’s these people that are sneaking over an open border, and this administration has just lost its mind.” 

She concluded by pointing to Qatar, a major non-NATO ally that hosts the Hamas leadership, likening the West Asian country to Switzerland. She said:

They host a lot of really bad actors in their country and the leadership of Hamas is located in Qatar, so we need to have some very stiff words with the leadership of the Qataris and make sure they understand that if you are harboring these terrorists, if you are providing them comfort aboard, we’re going to push back against you, too, and you’re not going to like it. 

“So we need to be very clear about that,” she added.

Ernst has long criticized the president for having “lined the pockets of the Iranian regime” with billions of dollars to fund its proxy terrorists, like Hamas; championed acts to bolster Middle East defense against Iranian threats, urged President Biden to enforce sanctions on Iranian oil, and advocated for the transfer of seized oil from the Suez Rajan tanker.

She also spearheaded a bipartisan effort urging President Biden to freeze Iranian assets.

Following the worst terrorist attack in Israel’s history perpetrated by Hamas, supported by Iran, Ernst met with Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, and U.S. citizens in Israel. 

The unprecedented attack saw Hamas terrorists gun down participants at an outdoor music festival, go door-to-door hunting and shooting Jews, and burning homes with families inside while proceeding to murder soldiers and infants alike, all while showering thousands of rockets down on Israeli civilian centers.

Imagine waking up to people with guns who kidnap you and your family into an enemy land while you pass through bodies of hundred of civilians they’ve murdered. That’s what happened to over 50 innocent Israelis today. pic.twitter.com/bzq3WKzrID

— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) October 7, 2023

Israel’s military has said that at least 199 people have been taken captive by Hamas, including several American citizens.