Jennifer Jacobs

jejacobs@dmreg.com

A joke about shooting an ex and a reference to a female federal official as a "traitorous skank" remained on a Facebook page belonging to the husband of U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst for months.

Democratic operatives took screen shots of the comments made by Republican Gail Ernst and shared them with The Des Moines Register today, a day after national news outlets reported Monday that he called Hillary Clinton a "hag" in a Facebook post in May 2013.

Gail Ernst has since deleted all the inflammatory posts and apologized for them in a written statement to the Register today.

His wife condemned the posts.

"I'm appalled by my husband's remarks," said Joni Ernst, a state senator from Red Oak who beat four other Republicans last week to become the GOP nominee for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat. "They are uncalled for and clearly inappropriate. I've addressed this issue with my husband and that's between us."

Joni Ernst is running in the high-stakes race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley, who some prognosticators give a slightly higher chance of winning in November in politically-divided Iowa. But three recent polls show Ernst with a lead ranging from one point to six points.

In a Facebook post on March 2013, a couple months before his wife announced her candidacy, Gail Ernst wrote: "What do you do if you see your ex running around in your front yard screaming and bloody? Stay calm. Reload. And try again."

It wasn't an original thought. It's apparently a long-running Facebook joke that critics consider tasteless. There's even a Facebook page solely dedicated to it.

And on April 19, 2013, Gail Ernst shared a photo of Janet Napolitano, then the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with the comment: "And am I suppose (sic) to give up my guns? As if! Traitorous skank!"

His comment accompanied a photo circulating on the Internet that had this caption: "There is a nation-wide shortage of ammo because DHS has emptied the shelves, but when asked why her department is hording so much, her answer amounted to … I take the 5th."

Accusations about disparaging women have been flying in both directions, just one week into the general election.

The Ernst's campaign denounced a Braley TV advertisement released Thursday as tantamount to sexism because it featured a baby chicken. They argued that the ad subtly calls Ernst a "chick," a term some women consider derogatory.

They took screen shots last year; Gail Ernst switched privacy settings Monday.

BuzzFeed broke the news on Monday that Gail Ernst called Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state, a hag in a Facebook message dated March 13, 2013.

"Truly more of a hag now than when she was 1st Lady!" he wrote.

Democrats today showed the Register another post, dated Jan. 24, 2013, in which Gail Ernst called Clinton a "Lying hag!" That remark accompanied a Facebook post that disparaged Clinton's comments about the deadly attack on a U.S. diplomatic installation in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012.

Benghazi has become a conservative drumbeat of criticism against Clinton, a potential candidate for president in 2016.

Gail Ernst in a statement to the Register today said: "I would like to apologize for the inappropriate comments I have made on Facebook, which I deeply regret. It is not the respect that women deserve or the example I want to set for my daughters."

He and Joni Ernst have three daughters – two grown adults and one who is a freshman in high school.

In reaction, one GOP operative in Iowa said Braley "must really be desperate if he's going after a spouse's Facebook pages."

Robert Haus, who isn't part of the Ernst campaign, said Braley is observing the motto of a weak candidate: "Attack, attack, attack. Never defend."

"He's got nothing positive in his legislative record to point to as a major accomplishment," Haus said. "In fact, quite the opposite. Will he run on Obamacare? Auto bailout and the ensuing GM fiasco? Cash for Clunkers? Government shutdown? Opposing tort reform? Maligning farmers?"

Haus said Braley's strategy until Nov. 4 will be to tear down Joni Ernst and her family. "That seems like a dangerous gambit for him and one that will wear out quickly," he said.