Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst doubled down on her bleak feedback in response to potential Republican Medicaid cuts by posting a sarcastic apology video on social media.
The senator went viral after she mentioned, “We all are going to die,” when responding to a query in regards to the proposed cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax laws throughout a city corridor in Parkersburg on Friday.
As Ernst started to reply the query, an individual within the viewers shouted, “People will die!”
“People are not — well, we all are going to die. For heaven’s sakes, folks,” she said in response.
The comment received national media attention and was widely criticized by Democrats who have slammed the possible ramifications of the proposed cuts to Medicaid.
Ernst shared a video on her Instagram story on Saturday where she spoke directly to the camera, seemingly from a cemetery.
“Hello everybody. I want to take this chance to sincerely apologize for a press release that I made yesterday at my city corridor,” said before going on to describe what happened.
“I made an incorrect assumption that everybody within the auditorium understood that sure, we’re all going to perish from this Earth,” she added. “So I apologize. And I’m actually, actually glad that I didn’t must convey up the topic of the tooth fairy as properly.”
“But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my lord and savior, Jesus Christ,” mentioned Ernst.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Republican tax invoice will lower Medicaid spending by $723 billion over the subsequent 10 years. The variety of uninsured individuals may rise by as a lot as 7.6 million.
During the city corridor occasion in Parkersburg, Ernst argued that the purpose of the laws is to make sure that these not eligible for Medicaid don’t get the advantages.
“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,” she mentioned. “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 subsequently went on accountable the “hysteria that’s out there coming from the left” for the criticism of her preliminary assertion.
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger responded to Ernst’s Instagram story on X, writing: “Whelp. No sense of goodness left in her now.”
“I’m sorry… is she walking through a cemetery as she makes this?” Democratic strategist Tim Hogan added.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/joni-ernst-iowa-town-hall-comments-b2761408.html