30-05-2025
Joni Ernst on Medicaid cuts: ‘We all are going to die'
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst was fielding another question on potential changes to Medicaid eligibility at a town hall in north-central Iowa on Friday when she quipped that 'we all are going to die.'
She had largely kept her cool as shouts and groans emerged from the crowd at a high school in Parkersburg, Iowa, as she defended President Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax and immigration package. But as she talked through the types of people that Republicans say should not be covered by Medicaid, including immigrants in the U.S. illegally, someone in the crowd yelled that people are going to die.
'People are not … well, we all are going to die,' Ernst said as the crowd booed. 'So, for heaven's sakes. For heaven's sakes, folks.'
'What you don't want to do is listen to me when I say that we are going to focus on those that are most vulnerable,' Ernst went on. 'Those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid we will protect.'
Watch the video above from Amie Rivers/Iowa Starting Line via Storyful and read more on .
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