Senator Joni Ernst, republican of Iowa, had a dark message for voters in a town hall in Butler County, Iowa, Friday morning: “We are all going to die.”
Ms. Ernst answered questions about the Medicaid cups that were included in the Domestic Policy Bill Fraying their way through Congress, when someone in the public shouted that the effect would be that “people will die”.
“Well, we will all die,” replied Ms. Ernst, pulling the tunes of the crowd.
Ms. Ernst appeared taken aback by the negative response.
“For sakes of paradise, friends,” she said.
The Democrats quickly moved to draw attention to the comment of Ms. Ernst, a second mandate legislator which is re -elected next year. The Senate Democratic campaign committee distributed a video clip of the moment, calling the remark of Ms. Ernst “incredibly insensitive” and saying that she came as a republicans in the congress, pushed massive cups in Medicaid which would leave “millions of uninsured Americans in order to pay a tax gift for billionaires”.
Sprawlingwhich contains a tax reduction of $ 4 billions which would provide the biggest savings to the rich, would also make several modifications to Medicaid, in particular by adding A new strict work requirement. The Budget Office of the Independent and Non-Supporter Congress has provided that the bill would lead to an unwelcome of around 10 million Americans.
On Friday, Ms. Ernst’s commentary intervened after the town hall participants interrupted her while she highlighted provisions to the extent that seek to guarantee that undocumented immigrants, who are not eligible for registration in Medicaid, would not receive any service. While they defend legislation, the Republicans often refer to this aspect, which suggests that the only major changes it would make in Medicaid would be to repress waste and abuses in the program, including illegal use by undocumented persons.
However, this is the most morbid part of Ms. Ernst’s remarks that Democrats are likely to play in campaign aid against her in the coming months.
With her re -election in mind, Ms. Ernst, a survivor of sexual assault and the first veteran woman in the Senate, earlier this year voted to confirm the defense secretary Pete Hegseth Despite the expression of reservations on its offer.
A spokesperson for Ms. Ernst said in a statement: “While Democrats are afraid of strengthening the integrity of Medicaid, Senator Ernst focuses on improving the life of all iowans.”
The spokesperson added: “There are only two certainties in life: death and taxes, and she works to facilitate the burden of the two by fighting to keep more dollars of hard-earned taxes in their own pockets and ensuring that their advantages are protected from waste, fraud and abuse.”
