Ex-Obama Adviser Knocks Joni Ernst's Town Hall Fumble In 1 Blunt Takedown
David Axelrod, ex-senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, on Monday bluntly criticized Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) for sarcastically saying 'we are all going to die' at a town hall in response to constituents' fears over GOP-backed Medicaid cuts.
'People will be affected, when you take seven, eight, nine million people off of Medicaid, there will be people who will die,' Axelrod told CNN's Jake Tapper.
Ernst doubled down on her heavily criticized comments by posting a non-apology video, seemingly filmed in a cemetery, on social media.
Axelrod wasn't having any of it.
'It was really insensitive of her to put that video up and politically stupid,' he said.
Ernst's dismissive remarks — which sparked a sea of jeers from the town hall crowd in Parkersburg, Iowa, on Friday — were in response to concerns over proposed cuts outlined in President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' that looks to slash $1 trillion from federal health and food programs.
The response to Ernst has led Iowa state Rep. J.D. Scholten (D) — who once nearly unseated white supremacist and ex-U.S. Rep. Steve King in 2018 — to announce that he plans to challenge her in next year's primary, telling Politico on Monday that she 'disrespected' Iowans with her remarks.
'We're taking them off [Medicaid], so billionaires can have a second yacht, so they can have a bigger tax break,' Scholten said.
'We have a system that's geared towards and favors billionaires and huge multinational corporations, and that's not working for most of Iowa.'
Ernst told CBS News on Monday that she's 'very compassionate' and claimed that people 'need to listen to the entire conversation' from the event.
Trump Just Got Another Smackdown From A Federal Judge
Trump's Budget Axes Program That Keeps Poor People From Freezing To Death At Home
Trump Blames Colorado 'Flamethrower' Attack On Biden Immigration Policies
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
14 minutes ago
- Forbes
Trump Budget Drops Protections For State Medical Cannabis Programs
The White House budget request for 2026 omits language that has protected state-regulated medical ... More cannabis operators from federal prosecution for more than decade. The Trump administration's budget request for the 2026 fiscal year drops provisions that have protected state medical cannabis programs for more than a decade, online cannabis news outlet Marijuana Moment reported on Monday. The budget provision has blocked federal law enforcement agencies from spending resources to investigate or prosecute businesses operating in compliance with state-authorized medical cannabis programs, despite the continued prohibition of marijuana under federal law. 'This provision, which has been in place since 2014, protects patients, caregivers, and medical cannabis providers in the 39 states that have legalized medical access from federal interference or criminal prosecution,' the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) wrote in a statement. 'Prior to the passage of this protection, federal prosecutors routinely took actions against patients and dispensaries in legal states.' The budget restriction was first adopted by Congress in 2014 and has been included in the federal budget every year since. But the Trump administration's budget request for the 2026 fiscal year released last week does not include the language. Similarly, the budget requests for each of the four years of President Donald Trump's first term omitted the protections for state-regulated medical cannabis operators. The administration of President Barack Obama also left the language prohibiting federal interference with regulated medical marijuana businesses out its budget requests following the initial adoption of the provisions. By contrast, the administration budget requests for all fours years of Joseph Biden's presidency included the protections for state-legal medical marijuana businesses. While the budget request illustrates the Trump administration's spending policies and priorities, Congress has the constitutional responsibility and authority for appropriations legislation. The congressional budget has included the language every year since 2014, despite attempts by both Democratic and Republican administrations to drop the provision. 'Today, more than half the country, including 36 states and Washington, D.C., have embraced medical marijuana, and for the past 10 years, the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment has prevented the Department of Justice from using federal funds to stop states from implementing their medical marijuana programs,' Laura A. Bianchi, co-founding partner of the cannabis and psychedelics law firm Bianchi and Brandt, writes in an email. 'Rolling back these protections would mark a significant setback for marijuana reform. Ultimately, Congress will have the final say, and the industry remains hopeful that they will uphold these vital safeguards.' When Trump signed previous appropriations bill including the protections for medical cannabis operators after requesting they be removed, his administration issued a statement that it 'will treat this provision consistent with the President's constitutional responsibility to faithfully execute the laws of the United States.' The statement, which was issued on three separate occasions, was widely interpreted to suggest that the Trump administration might ignore the budget restriction. The omission of the protections for state-legal medical cannabis programs in the Trump administration's 2026 budget request is likely to disappoint supporters of cannabis policy reform who were encouraged by the president's apparent support for decriminalizing marijuana during the 2024 election campaign. In September, Trump suggested he supported reclassifying marijuana under federal drug laws and that he would back state efforts to legalize recreational cannabis. 'As President, we will continue to focus on research to unlock the medical uses of marijuana to a Schedule 3 drug, and work with Congress to pass common sense laws, including safe banking for state authorized companies, and supporting states rights to pass marijuana laws, like in Florida, that work so well for their citizens,' Trump wrote on Truth Social, according to a report from Marijuana Moment.
Bloomberg
14 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
China In Wait and See Mode: Cameron Johnson
US-China trade talks do not appear to be progressing as President Trump said via social media, China's leader Xi Jinping is "extremely hard to a deal with." Tidalwave Solutions Senior Partner Cameron Johnson has more on the story. (Source: Bloomberg)
CNN
15 minutes ago
- CNN
Trump administration returns migrant hastily deported to Mexico back to the US
A Guatemalan national who says he was wrongfully deported to Mexico last month is back in the United States, his legal team told CNN, in what appears to mark the first time the Trump administration has brought back a migrant after a judge ordered the administration to facilitate their return. OCG, a pseudonym the migrant is using in the case, landed in the United States on Wednesday and made contact with a member of the litigation team challenging the Trump administration's moves to send migrants to countries where they have no ties, according to Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance. The team expects he will be taken into the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, though it's unclear where he'll be detained, Realmuto told CNN. This is a developing story and will be updated.
