Sen. Joni Ernst unloads on Hillary Clinton at Republican National Convention

Sen. Joni Ernst addresses the 2016 Republican National Convention

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The second-to-last speaker at Monday night's Republican National Convention, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), gave a hard-hitting indictment of Democrat Hillary Clinton to a mostly empty convention hall, according to Fox News. On stage with a group of fellow veterans, Ernst said that Clinton "has already failed us too many times before," citing Benghazi and her private email server. When the remaining crowd reprised their chant of "lock her up," Ernst smiled and said, "that's right." (Previous speaker, Michael Flynn, had chanted along, saying: "Damn right. There's nothing wrong with that.")

"Our men and women of the armed services do not fail us; they cannot fail us," Ernst said. She said Donald Trump would be a "strong stabilizing force," adding, "It's time to stand up and fight for the security of our children, our grandchildren, and ourselves." With Clinton, it's always about Hillary Clinton, Ernst said. "Donald Trump is focused on you."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.