MSNBC Analyst and "The Circus" co-host John Heilemann told Sen. Jodi Ernst (R., Iowa) that she's the "only American" not following the Stormy Daniels story.
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell showed a clip Wednesday of an upcoming episode of Showtime's "The Circus," a documentary series that says it "pulls back the curtain on the Trump era of presidential politics." The clip features Heilemann speaking to Ernst at an event in Iowa where he asks her and other attendees about adult film actress Stormy Daniel's alleged affair with President Donald Trump in 2006.
"I guess I can't comment because I don't know the timeline, and I'm not really following Stormy Daniels," Ernst said.
"Really?" Heilemann asked.
"No," Ernst replied.
"You're the only American who's not," Heilemann said.
"Yeah, and thank God I'm not because I'm actually focused on my job, which is in the Senate," Ernst said.
Following his discussion with Ernst, Heilemann asked several Iowans in attendance what they thought. Most said they found it irrelevant and that they didn't care about Trump's personal life.
Heilemann's "The Circus" co-host Mark McKinnon also said the return of three Americans from North Korea was a "huge development" and "may be [the administration's] best moment yet of the presidency."
McKinnon said Iowa, which voted for Trump by more than 9 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in 2016, is still strongly supporting Trump. He further agreed that the Daniels story isn't a make-or-break issue for most Americans, saying those who support Trump don't see it as relevant.
"People really don't care about it," McKinnon said. "If you're for Trump, you just don't see it as relevant. If you're against him, you think it's a big deal. But it's baked in, and it's not persuading anybody one way or the other."
Looking forward to the 2018 and 2020 elections, McKinnon told Mitchell that Trump would have a good message to run on.
"If you're a Republican running in a year in which you have the lowest unemployment in a couple of decades, highest consumer confidence in a couple of decades, peace breaking out on the Korean peninsula, that's a pretty good peace and prosperity message to run on," McKinnon said. "So, everybody is getting really excited about the ‘blue wave,’ [but] maybe ... hesitate here a moment, because we're still six months out and a lot of good things are happening for Donald Trump right now."