Like manywingnuts,Ernst has an idiosyncratic and/or poor graspof the US Constitution,believing e.g. that states cannullify laws passed by the federal government and that local law enforcementofficers canfreely arrest federal officials attempting to implement Obamacare.She also argued vociferously that then-President Obama had become adictator that needed to be removed from office and prosecuted for crimesagainst the Constitution, without being able to identify what those crimes weresupposed to be or how they violated the Constitution. In 2014, she also arguedthat same-sex marriage should be left to the states while simultaneouslyarguing for a federal marriage amendment that would prohibit gay marriage.

Thus far,however, we have mostly dealt with standard wingnut fare; examples of the stuffthat really qualify Ernst for an entry here, however, include at least:

-      Endorsing and promotingAgenda 21 conspiracy theories,claiming e.g. that the non-binding guidelines would leadto farmers being forced off their land and made to live in cities

-      Believing that therewereindeed weaponsof mass destruction in Iraq in 2003.

-      Being aclimate change denier: “I have not seen proven proof that[climate change] is entirely man-made”, said Ernst, committing over thecourse of ten words a lie, a ludicrous strawman, a red herring, and an appealto ignorance, while simultaneously displaying complete and uttermisunderstanding of how science works.

Ernst isalso on record fuelling COVID-19 conspiracy theories, e.g. byclaiming early on that case numbers were greatly inflatedand that healthcare providers might be falsifying them.

Diagnosis:A good illustration of the fact that the distinction between the mainstreamright and the conspiracy-driven wingnut cuckoo-land has been blurry for a while,Ernst definitely has investments in the latter. She is nevertheless a USsenator who seems to enjoy quite a bit of authority, recognition and influenceamong what many would describe as the “mainstream” parts of the right. Scaryand dangerous.

Hat-tip:Rationalwiki