Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst's decision not to seek re-election was met with a triumphant reaction on MSNBC Friday evening by one of her main opposition hopefuls, Democratic state Sen. Zach Wahls.

"Let me ask you first," said anchor Jen Psaki. "I mean, when you saw the news today that Ernst is planning to drop out of the race, what was your first reaction?"

"It certainly has been a day," said Wahls. "And I'll tell you, when I saw the news, I wasn't surprised. Senator Ernst has obviously forgotten where she came from, has forgotten her constituents, and I think she saw the writing on the wall. There was new polling out this week that showed that we were leading Senator Ernst in the head-to-head matchup. And her favorability, I'm sure, in part because of that quote, have fallen into very, very difficult territory for her. So, you know, we're not surprised to see her running for the hills, and we're just getting started."

"It's really going to be a really interesting primary to watch as a political animal myself," said Psaki. "I'm excited to watch it. But there's a lot of people in the race, and you call yourself a 'new generation of Democrat.' What do you mean by that? What should people understand about that?"

"Well Jen, I think Iowans want a fighter, not a follower," said Wahls. "I think Democrats want a fighter, not a follower. And Senator Ernst became a part of the problem that she said she would solve back in 2014, when she was running for the first time. I'm sure many of your viewers remember her famous ad about going to Washington to 'make 'em squeal.' She talked about taking on the old boys club, but the truth is that under her time in Washington, D.C., Iowa has really seen a lot of very bad things happen, and people here are ready for a change. To make that change happen, you need new leaders. People who are fighters."

"As you mentioned in the intro, I've been fighting for families like mine since I was only 19," Wahls added. "And look, I haven't won every fight that I've been in, but I've never backed down from a fight just because I knew it was hard, unlike Joni Ernst."

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