Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, has released a memoir that details her life growing up in Iowa, her time in the military and in the Senate, and reveals the “abuse, sexism, and harassment” that she faced.
Ernst released her book, “Daughter of the Heartland: My Ode to the Country That Raised Me,” on May 26.
“It’s kind of a labor of love, I guess, for me,” Ernst told The Daily Caller on Thursday. “I went through a very public divorce a couple of years ago, and through that, of course, information came out about my marriage and, of course, sexual assault when I was in college, and those things were very hurtful to me and not anything that I ever wanted to share widely or publicly.”
“That was just my own personal pain, and I didn’t want … just the stiff upper lip, don’t bother other people with your troubles kind of thing,” the senator continued. “Kind of how I was raised, be resilient, drive through. But through the course of that coming out, I had so many women and men … all of these people reaching out to me.”
She added, “In spite of those challenges of hurtful periods in my lifetime, I have been able to go and do different things. I’m still the person that I strive to be and want to be, I just carry some of those dark moments with me in my heart. And I want other young women to know that too. We’re all going to face challenges, we just need to overcome them.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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