Iowa republican Senator Joni Ernst said during a candidate interview on Iowa public television, that she would support efforts to seat a Supreme Court nominee in this election year, should a seat become available, even during a lame duck session if republicans lose control of the White House and the Senate.

Repeatedly calling today a “different situation” because republicans control both the White House and the Senate, Ernst stated that the only reason the Senate would not consider President Obama’s choice for the SCOTUS seat opened by Justice Antonin Scalia died was because Obama was a Democrat.

Lol they are literally just making shit up. Unbelievable. pic.twitter.com/LPrmG3hTDm

— Keith Edwards (@keithedwards) July 22, 2020

“That was a different situation,” Ernst said, “A republican held Senate with a Democratic president and so we were divided on who that selection would be, um…. This is a different scenario where you have a republican president and a republican Senate, there’s likely not to be a lot of disagreement when it comes to the selection of a justice.”

Ernst, who in a very tight reelection race versus Democrat Theresa Greenfield, doesn’t seem to understand that the Senate does not have a role in naming a SCOTUS nominee, just approving the nominee named by the President.  Those are roles laid out in the Constitution.

“If President Trump is defeated, if republicans lose control of the Senate,” one interviewer asks, “would you still support doing this prior to January?”

“And it is a lame duck session, I would support any hearings we might have,” Ernst replies, “and if it comes to an appointment prior to the end of the year, I would be supportive of that.”