--- title: Republican Convention: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst Speaking description: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst will speak at the Republican National Convention on Monday on national security. canonical: https://time.com/4411482/republican-convention-joni-ernst-speakers/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-18T22:55:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:20:21.170Z article:section: Politics og:title: Meet the Would-Be Trump VP Pick Speaking at the Convention og:description: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst took herself out of the running. og:url: https://time.com/4411482/republican-convention-joni-ernst-speakers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9559dadcc77747f1/69869fbdadae446c9b5448d8/joni-ernst-iowa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Joni Ernst og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the Would-Be Trump VP Pick Speaking at the Convention twitter:description: Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst took herself out of the running. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9559dadcc77747f1/69869fbdadae446c9b5448d8/joni-ernst-iowa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the Would-Be Donald Trump Running Mate Speaking at the Convention by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 18, 2016 10:55 PM UTC  Republican Iowa State Sen. Joni Ernst in Des Moines, Iowa on May 29, 2014. Republican Iowa State Sen. Joni Ernst in Des Moines, Iowa on May 29, 2014.Charlie Neibergall—AP by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jul 18, 2016 10:55 PM UTC Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, a former member of Donald Trump’s veepstakes shortlist, will [speak at the Republican National Convention on Monday](http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/kathie-obradovich/2016/07/17/ernst-come-out-swinging-rnc-stage/87229662/) on national security. The Army veteran [pulled herself out of the running](http://time.com/4395245/donald-trump-vice-president-joni-ernst-bob-corker/) for Trump’s running mate, saying she wanted to focus on Iowa instead. This isn’t Ernst’s first time in the national spotlight. In 2015 she gave the Republican rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address. Her speech is widely remembered for her anecdote about wearing bread bags over her shoes as a child to keep them dry. > [](https://twitter.com/joniernst/status/755104513720279040) Last year, Ernst began hosting a new annual event called [the Roast and Ride](http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/ernst-kicks-off-first-roast-ride-motorcycle-fundraiser-20150606), a cattle call event which last year drew several presidential hopefuls, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The second annual Roast and Ride is scheduled for late August. Ernst recently sponsored legislation that would [ban Meatless Mondays from the military](http://time.com/4363024/joni-ernst-meatless-monday/). She won her seat as Iowa’s junior senator in 2014, and that campaign was best known for her [ad about castrating hogs](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-joni-ernsts-ad-about-castrating-hogs-transformed-iowas-us-senate-race/2014/05/11/c02d1804-d85b-11e3-95d3-3bcd77cd4e11%5Fstory.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4411482/republican-convention-joni-ernst-speakers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4411482/republican-convention-joni-ernst-speakers/"},"headline":"Meet the Would-Be Donald Trump Running Mate Speaking at the Convention","datePublished":"2016-07-18T22:55:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:20:21.170Z","description":"Iowa Sen. 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