Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) said NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it bothered her former President Donald Trump called those convicted and jailed for their actions on January 6, 2021 “hostages.”
Anchor Kristen Welker said, “I want to stay on this topic of hostages. Donald Trump has gotten a lot of attention for labeling those who are serving time for the January 6 attack as hostages. You obviously know the difference between those convicted of crimes related to January 6 and hostages. Does it bother you that Donald Trump is using that language?”
Ernst said, “It does in this context because we do have American hostages that are being held against their will all around the globe. Especially if you look at the innocents that were attacked and kidnapped on October 7, we are approaching nearly 100 days. These are people that have been taken. They’re held in tunnels with terrorists. They are being tortured. They have been raped, and they have been denied medication. So equating two, there is no comparison.”
She added, “Our Americans that are being held overseas, they are innocent. They were there celebrating the high Jewish holidays and were taken by these horrible terrorists so there is no equal term. The hostages are hostages. I would certainly ask to speak to any of their families and I would speak to their families and not knowing if their loved ones are alive or dead and there is a very clear difference.”
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