Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst has delivered a backhanded apology for acknowledging everyone dies during a town hall that included frustration over Trump Medicaid reforms.
Ernst sparked controversy when she fielded a question about the Medicaid provisions in the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act and a heckler jeered that “people will die!” during the gathering Friday in Parkersburg, Iowa.
Ernst fired back in now-viral footage, “People are not — well, we all are going to die. For heaven’s sakes, folks.”
On Saturday, the Hawkeye State Republican followed up by posting a video on Instagram of her giving a mock apology.
“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall,” she said, initially sounding serious. “A woman who was extremely distraught screamed out from the back corner of the auditorium, ‘People are going to die!’ “
“And I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth,” she went on. “So I apologize, and I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the Tooth Fairy as well.
“But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Ernst also ripped into the “hysteria that’s out there coming from the left” over the blowback to her comments about death.
The proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cleared the House last month and now heads to the Senate this week for consideration, features multiple Medicaid reform provisions, including work requirements.
Medicaid, a federal health insurance program for low-income Americans, is distinct from Medicare, which is federal health insurance for the elderly.
The mega-bill would require able-bodied individuals to work or volunteer for multiple hours each month to receive Medicaid benefits.
Overall, the suite of reforms could lead to 7.6 million people losing benefits and saving $723 billion more than a decade, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate. That’s the bulk of the more than $1.5 trillion spending cuts in the massive bill.
But the provision has drawn grumblings from several Republican senators such as Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), though it is not fully clear whether they will vote for it.
The mammoth piece of legislation also imposes work requirements on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and makes other reforms to food stamps.
Proponents argue that those measures are needed to root out waste and fraud.
“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 said, insisting the changes will protect those in most need.
“Those that meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid, we will protect. We will protect them. Medicaid is extremely important here in the state of Iowa. If you don’t want to listen, that’s fine,” she said.
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