MAGA Sen. deletes pic of him laughing it up with lobbyists as Medicaid cuts pass

The office of Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted has deleted a social media post after being asked about the message it sent. The post on X claimed that President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a “pro-family” bill” for “working class families.”

The law will take health insurance and food support away from thousands of low-income, working Ohioans. The post touting it pictured Husted laughing it up with two men who appear to be prominent special-interest lobbyists.

Husted’s office hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this year appointed Husted — who was then lieutenant governor — to fill the Senate seat vacated by JD Vance when Vance became Trump’s vice president.

Husted, who will run next year in a special election, has since supported Trump’s appointments and his legislative agenda.

That includes Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a controversial piece of legislation that squeaked through with Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, and Vance casting a tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate.

On Thursday in a 9:10 a.m. post on X, Husted lauded the bill and attacked Democrats who opposed it.

“Democrats want this president to fail,” it said. “And, if that means Americans fail, too, Democrats are OK with that. That’s not acceptable. Republicans just led by passing a pro-family, pro-business, pro-growth, pro-America bill for working-class families.”

One of the reasons that the bill is so controversial is that it provides giant tax cuts that will increase deficits by $3.8 trillion, the nonpartisan Tax Foundation reports.

Husted’s office didn’t respond when asked whether he agreed with that estimate and to explain how ballooning the national debt was pro-business, pro-America, or pro-growth.

Of the tax cuts in the bill, $1 trillion will go to the richest 1% of Americans over the next decade, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

Meanwhile, it will cut more than $1 trillion from Medicaid and $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

In sum, the Yale Budget Lab concluded, the bill will give the richest 1% — about 3 million Americans — $30,000 more a year on average. Meanwhile, the poorest 20% — 68 million Americans — will get $700 less, the analysis said.

The legislation delayed the deepest pain from the cuts until the beginning of 2027 — just after the 2026 midterm elections in which Husted must run.

Ohio food bank officials said that when the food cuts take effect, they’ll be overwhelmed.

And emergency doctors say the Medicaid cuts will explode wait times and degrade care for all Ohioans. That’s because the cuts threaten to take health coverage away from hundreds of thousands of Ohioans and swamp providers with patients who can’t pay.

Husted’s office also didn’t respond to questions asking how those policies are pro-family or good for the working class.

And it took down the post on X after being asked by the Capital Journal about the men Husted was pictured with in it.

They weren’t identified in the post, but one appears to be Tom Balzer, CEO of the Ohio Trucking Association. His web bio boasts “significant legislative wins. Including a 1,400% increase in assets, greater transparency and membership engagement, increased donations to the Political Action Committee and a heightened presence in Ohio politics.”

He’s listed as an agent for the Trucking Association and the Ohio Chapter of International Warehouse and Logistics Association on a database maintained by the Ohio Joint Legislative Ethics Committee.

The other man pictured laughing with Husted appears to be Victor Hipsley of the Governmental Policy Group. He’s registered as lobbying for dozens of special interests, including the Ohio Coal Association, Koch Government Affairs, and Duke Energy Business Services.

Neither lobbyist responded when asked whether they agreed with Husted’s support for Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.