Sen. Tom Harkin says Iowans should oppose Joni Ernst on Tuesday, even if Ernst is “as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers.”
The Iowa Democrat, who is retiring after 30 years of service, had some words for voters last week.
“In this Senate race, I’ve been watching some of these ads,” Harkin said while speaking at the Story County Democrats’ annual fall barbecue being held in his honor, according to BuzzFeed. “And there’s sort of this sense that, ‘Well, I hear so much about Joni Ernst. She is really attractive, and she sounds nice,’” Harkin said to laughs.
“Well I gotta to thinking about that. I don’t care if she’s as good looking as Taylor Swift or as nice as Mr. Rogers, but if she votes like Michele Bachmann, she’s wrong for the state of Iowa,” he said about the Republican nominee to a chorus of applause.
On Fox & Friends Monday morning, Ernst responded to Harkin’s comments saying she was “very offended.”
“I was very offended that Sen. Harkin would say that, I think it’s unfortunate that he and many in their party believe that you can’t be a real woman if you’re conservative and female,” she said. ”I believe if my name had been Jon Ernst attached to my résumé, Sen. Harkin would not have said those things.”
Harkin has long been considered an important Democrat in Iowa, a must-stop for potential 2016 Democratic presidential contenders.
Iowa is considered one of the “battleground” states in the midterms elections that will determine if Democrats retain a Senate majority.
According to a RealClearPolitics average of polls, Ernst is up by just under 2 points.
