During a town hall on Friday, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) dismissed constituent concerns that people will die due to the GOP budget bill’s cuts to Medicaid by saying everyone would someday die anyway.
In response to someone in the crowd yelling out that people would die, Ernst curly replied, “Well, we all are going to die.”
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After the backlash, Sen. Ernst posted a sarcastic apology video in which she seems to be walking through a cemetery.
“I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this earth, so I apologize,” she quipped, “and I’m really, really glad that I did not have to ring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.”
She then encouraged people to turn to Jesus if they wanted everlasting life.
Absolutely bonkers — Joni Ernst doubles down on her “we are all gonna die” defense of Medicaid cuts while walking through a cemetery pic.twitter.com/tZrhtvODeK
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 31, 2025
The budget bill – which the GOP is calling the “Big Beautiful Bill” – would result in almost nine million Americans losing access to Medicaid and would also cut Medicare by $500 billion.
Another provision also bans Medicaid (a joint federal-state program that provides health care to people with low incomes) and CHIP (a program that provides health care to children and pregnant people with low incomes) from reimbursing for gender-affirming care (including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery) for trans people of all ages.