Freshman Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst squealed with delight when she was presented with a welcoming gift to Congress by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Ernst, who made headlines during her GOP campaign with her entertaining hog castration commercial, received a pig castration tool mounted on a wooden plaque that read, "Make 'Em Squeal, Joni!"
But the ceremony was marred by an embarrassing gaffe by Vice President Joe Biden, who got her name wrong.
The daughter of pig farmers who was often called on to castrate the family’s hogs, Ernst defeated her Democratic challenger Bruce Braley to take retiring Sen. Tom Harkin's seat, according to
Bloomberg.
Her infamous ad, during which she said she knew how "to cut pork" in Congress, helped win over voters, and she also received help from Graham, who stumped for her in Iowa.
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During her campaign, Ernst often declared that she would "make ‘em squeal" in Washington, D.C., while fighting for GOP causes.
"That commercial was probably the most effective commercial in the last 20 years and this phrase I think is what that election was all about,"
Graham told ABC News.
Asked to describe the device, Graham said, "This is what makes you squeal if you're a pig."
He added, "Apparently in the old days this is how you did castration of farm animals, and I can't even talk about this without getting nervous. All I can say is that when I saw that commercial, it stuck with me."
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The event was also attended by Biden, who performed a mock swearing-in ceremony before calling Ernst by her husband’s name, Gail.
"Mr. Vice President, Joni," Ernst corrected him politely. "My husband's Gail."
"It's getting late, man," he apologized.
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