IA Sen. Joni Ernst’s recent admission that she wants to cut social security behind closed doors seems to have struck a chord with President Donald Trump, who, in an interview with CNBC in January flagrantly expressed his intention to gut Social Security and Medicare if reelected to a second term.

“At some point they will be,” Trump said. “At the right time, we will take a look at that.”

The president’s public admission falls in line with Ernst’s long history of supporting drastic and potentially catastrophic cuts to these programs that provide support to thousands of Iowa seniors every year.

In 2015, and again in 2017, Ernst voted for multiple budget proposals to slash Medicare by nearly a trillion dollars combined.

And in 2014, Ernst voiced her support in an interview with KWQC for the privatization of Social Security, stating: “Whether it’s tied to the market, whether it is an interest-bearing savings account, those are some things that we need to have discussions on. But absolutely, I agree, we have to change our mandatory spending.”

There are currently over 647,000 Social Security enrollees in Iowa, and over 620,000 enrolled in Medicare.

On Wednesday, the Iowa Starting Line reported that Ernst declared at a town hall in March 2019 that Medicare spending was “out of control.”

In 2020, Ernst will be on the ballot for reelection alongside the president, where Iowans will be the ultimate jurors as to whether the two’s synergistic mission to slash Medicare and Social Security benefits will ultimately earn their vote.