'Save this tape’: Dem cackles as he warns CNN’s Scott Jennings of GOP 'wipeout'
Democratic strategist Paul Begala clashed Tuesday on CNN with longtime GOP adviser and resident Donald Trump advocate Scott Jennings about the political impact of Republicans' "big, beautiful bill" that just narrowly passed the Senate, and is headed back to the House amid ongoing GOP disputes and a self-imposed deadline to get it to Trump's desk by the end of the week.
The bill cuts over $1 trillion from Medicaid, food assistance, and green energy subsidies in order to extend tax cuts for the wealthy and beef up immigration enforcement — all while adding over $2 trillion to the deficit.
"Republicans and the Senate are in a convertible with Donald Trump going through a car wash, and he ain't going to get wet. They're going to get soaked," said Begala. "Look, as a partisan, it'll be great for my party; as a citizen, I hate it. Because they're going to come — they're going to hunt them down with dogs. I'm not kidding. You heard it here first. Save this tape. It's going to be a wipeout for your party, Scott, if you guys cut Medicaid for the people who voted for you."
"We're not cutting Medicaid for the people who voted for us, we're cutting Medicaid for the people who vote for Democrats," Jennings said, as Begala burst out laughing. "Look, we're cutting the only thing we're cutting here is taxes ... why are you fighting so hard to protect welfare benefits for—"
"For people who don't vote for me?" cut in Begala. "Because I actually love my country more than my party?"
"Why do you — why fight so hard to keep illegal aliens on welfare?" Jennings demanded to know, something that is already not allowed with federal funding and is no longer a part of the GOP bill.
"Well, first off — by the way, I think people who are sick should see a doctor because they can infect me," said Begala. "Also, my values suggest that I should care for the least, the last, and the lost."
"This is the economic theory known as the public good," chimed in anchor Kasie Hunt.
"But yeah, right. And so as you point out, they're going to show up at the emergency room and they're going to cost the taxpayers far more money," Begala continued. "But politically, simply, politically, this is like falling off a log. If you tell voters, you leave Republicans alone in a room with lights off, they're going to take your health care. They go, oh, yeah, because they got 60 years of history on this. This is a fight the Republicans have picked, and they're going to lose so badly."
"I mean, these things always do, but it's going to be a catastrophe for the Republican Party," he added. "To cut taxes for the rich, we're going to hurt veterans who — by the way, Trump carried veterans. We're going to hurt working-class people, Trump carried them. It's amazing to me that he's punishing and betraying the people elected."
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