Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) offered a morbid response to a constituent concerned about health care cuts in the Republican budget bill.
The Iowa Republican held a town hall Friday morning in Parkersburg, where she repeatedly expressed frustration with angry constituents who demanded answers on proposed cuts to Medicaid and food stamp benefits and asked pointed questions about Congress putting a check on president Donald Trump's power, reported KCRG-TV.
“Are you afraid of Trump, are you corrupt like Trump, or are you just to the point you don’t care anymore and that’s why you don’t do anything?” asked attendee Harrison Cass, a Navy veteran and civics teacher.
Ernst disagreed that Trump was threatening democracy and expressed support for Trump actions, such as tariffs and DOGE cuts, that Cass and other attendees were concerned about.
"[Trump] does take my calls, he does listen to my concerns,” Ernst said. “I did not do that with president [Joe] Biden, he did not take my calls, he did not take anybody’s calls. That’s the way government should work is having this type of interaction and interaction between the branches of government.”
Ernst declined to say whether she would vote for Trump's so-called "Big Beautiful Bill," which includes potential cuts to Medicaid funding, but she angered some in the audience when she defended rolling back benefits for those she said were not supposed to be eligible for assistance.
"People will die," one woman shouted out.
Ernst horrified social media users with her sarcastic response to the woman.
"Well, we are all going to die," Ernst said, which elicited more angst in the auditorium and online.
"Holy s---," said Democratic strategist Mike Nellis. "Asked about people dying from Medicaid cuts, Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said, 'Well, we're all gonna die.' That’s the GOP health care plan — die, and die quickly. The smile at the end is haunting."
"Republicans have a new talking point for gutting Medicaid and SNAP to give billionaires even more tax cuts: 'We are all going to die,'" posted the Indivisible account. "If your senator is a GOP ghoul like Joni Ernst, they need to hear from the constituents they’re betraying with Trump’s Tax Scam."
"Joni Ernst: 'Well, we're all going to die,'" added Bluesky user Steffn. "Yeah, some sooner, less comfortably, and unnecessarily than others. Mitigating that is the point of Medicaid (you arrogant ass). Callous and tone deaf."
