Joni Ernst on Gutting Tens of Millions of Americans’ Healthcare: “Well, we all are going to die”

WASHINGTON, DC – In a town hall with her constituents, Republican Senator Joni Ernst justified gutting healthcare for 220,000 people in her state and the 14 million Americans nationwide by stating “well, we all are going to die.” Between late night votes and a rushed legislative process, congressional Republicans are signing off on the largest cuts in Medicaid history in order to pay for tax cuts for themselves, their billionaire donors, and big corporations. 

Per Rolling Stone: 

Senator Joni Ernst is encouraging her constituents to think big-picture about the Medicaid cuts in the “big, beautiful” bill President Donald Trump and House Republicans passed last week.

The Iowa Republican tried to justify the cuts — which are expected to kick at least 10 million people off the health care program — during a town hall event on Friday, an attendee appeared to yell out: “People are going to die!”

Ernst began to respond but then stopped herself, exasperated.

“Well, we all are going to die,” she said, smirking as the audience jeered.

Republicans have been struggling to justify the tax bill’s cuts to Medicaid and other social services, which are wildly unpopular. GOP lawmakers have been arguing that the millions of Americans who are expected to lose health care over the cuts are undeserving and are abusing the system.

“It’s corrections of overpayments and of people who have not been eligible for these programs, by law as it is currently written,” Ernst said before her constituent pointed out that people will die. “When you are arguing about illegals who are receiving Medicaid benefits, 1.4 million, they are no[t] eligible, so they will be coming off.”

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