Joni Ernst: Obama insulted slain service members to distract from Iran nukes deal

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) suggested Wednesday during a radio interview that President Barack Obama might have deliberately angered conservatives by waiting to lower White House flags to half mast to honor five service members killed by gunman in Chattanooga.

The Republican senator speculated that he might have done this to distract from the Iran nuclear deal that was strongly criticized by conservatives, reported Right Wing Watch.

The delay has prompted conservative outrage and has been the subject of viral social media posts -- many of them flatly inaccurate.

Ernst agreed with Simon Conway, an Iowa talk radio host, that it was confusing why Obama would have waited five days to lower the flags to honor the service members killed by a Muslim gunman.

“I think there’s something else going on because I think he wants us talking about that and not the other thing, whatever the other thing might be," Conway said.

Ernst, who is no stranger to conspiracy theories, said she thought Conway might be onto something.

“I do think that there are so many things going on right now that he doesn’t want us talking about, whether it is the fact that terrorism remains, whether it is the agreement with Iran," Ernst said. "I think there are so many things that he would just rather he don’t discuss and focus on something else.”