'Well, we all are going to die': GOP senator's stark mic drop to town hall over Medicaid cuts

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Friday 30 May 2025 13:45 EDT


Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa had a grim message for her constituents furious over proposed cuts to Medicaid that could end health coverage for millions of Americans. Over a chorus of groans from the crowd at a town hall in Butler County on Friday morning, Ernst said her Republican colleagues were making “corrections” to the federal healthcare program to stop “overpayments” and prevent “illegals” from receiving benefits.

“People are going to die,” one person shouted out. “Well, we’re all going to die,” Ernst snarkily replied. When she was greeted with a mixture of stunned groans and shout-backs, the senator exasperatedly added: “For heaven’s sakes, folks.”

Democratic officials and advocacy groups pounced on the moment, accusing Ernst of airing what the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called a “stunningly callous” remark that points to a wider failure among Republican members of Congress to face criticism over threats to a program that supports millions of lower-income Americans.

“Joni Ernst said the quiet part out loud: Republicans don’t give a shit about whether their own constituents live or die as long as the richest few get richer,” according to Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin.

Read more: https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/joni-ernst-medicaid-going-to-die-b2760957.html

[BootinUp]

1. Stop electing corrupt lying fascist clowns!

[kerry-is-my-prez]

7. The sad thing is that there's a lot worse in that party, she's just telling the truth.

Much, much more horrible human beings - who are just not being honest and have their “slick answers” ready. They ALL have that attitude and secretly think that.

[markodochartaigh]

27. Yep,

Tim Boyd, the mayor of Colorado City, took to Facebook in anger at people "crying and looking for a handout".

"Sink or swim it's your choice," he raged. "The city and country... or any other service, owes you nothing."



https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-56100743

[BidenRocks]

33. Yo Boyd!

You're fired and shunned.
Good luck!
Asswipe!

[B.See]

2. We're all going to die, aka

making America great



again.

[FalloutShelter]

3. You first, Joni.

What TF happened to these malformed women?

[RVN VET71]

63. Didn't she have a job as a pig castrator at one time

I think she used that experience as a campaign meme.

She, like every stinkin' Republican, has dissociated herself from her humanity and is now reduced to a snarky shell, hungry only for power. Just like that loud mouthed Boyd character mentioned elsewhere in the comments.

These folks, some few of them, are not intellectually stupid and they honestly do not understand us people who care about each other and about justice and fairness. As Joseph Wambaugh said about the criminals he arrested and put in prison, "they all think conscience is a con" and the purpose of life is to get as much as you can before the other guy beats you to it. In the case of the current GOP terrorist organization, if that means letting babies starve and die, letting new-borns be born with life threatening diseases, causing entire populations to drop back into the well of despair and hopelessness, so what?

I can only think with horror and disgust at the so-called "human beings" currently in charge of our current Federal, and many State and Local, governments.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. That's like saying "Get on with it! You're costing me money!"

Reprehensible Republican scum

[underpants]

19. There's also a "you should appreciate that I'm even talking to you" element here too.

Stupid unwashed masses, she COULD BE having a steak dinner and cocktails on a lobbyists dime amongst a capital city crowd but NO she’s got to give you an hour of her time. Stupid masses

[RockRaven]

5. Fuck her, obviously, but Iowans need to look around and look in the mirror.

This is what they, or if not them than their neighbors, have been voting for for years.

[IronLionZion]

6. Make Americans Die Unnecessarily

from easily preventable deaths. Pro-life.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Idiot

[Cha]

26. TY! Who knew Phoni would Tell the Truth at

at maga Town Hall!!

A Truth that will Help Dems Score!

[Aristus]

9. Take away her health insurance and see how cavalier she is about health, especially her own.

[Cloudhopper]

10. So, then they AREN'T trying to 'Make America Healthy Again?"

[Beartracks]

23. Well, if you're dead you can't be sick anymore!

[Blue Owl]

11. Well what's the big deal with abortion then?

[Evolve Dammit]

12. What an insensitive stupid fuck thing to say. Hope you go first Ms Compassion. JHC. These MAGAts are deplorable....

[CTyankee]

13. Hmm, do you call yourself "pro-life," Senator?

[The Madcap]

14. She is correct; however,

With her attitude towards dying, I guess abortion is now a good thing in R world. And murder... After all, we're all going to die.

Open hypocrisy at its worst.

[Karasu]

22. Exactly. If they really want to play that game, they're endorsing abortion, the "issue" that has been their lifeline for

the past 40+ fucking years.

Hell, it's a great line of defense for Luigi Mangione, too.

"We're all going to die", after all. The "when" and "how" clearly don't fucking matter.

And this is coming from someone with taxpayer-subsidized health care.

It doesn't get more nakedly dystopian than this. This is an open admission of just how little people's lives matter to them....and they have the gall to complain about stupid bullshit like birth rates.

[paulrevere2018]

15. She is right on that we are all going to die. Just some us a lot sooner than we should because

of greed and callous indifference.

[Karasu]

32. When and how we die clearly doesn't fucking matter, or they would say as much. Us dying from 100% preventable shit is

something she's obviously fully on board with.

So when the next CEO gets whacked, we can all just shrug and say, "Well, we're all going to die."

[paulrevere2018]

36. So when the next CEO gets whacked, we can all just shrug and say, "Well, we're all going to die."

Brilliant!!

[hildegaard28]

16. She's a member

Of the "pro-life" party, folks.

[Karasu]

17. This is the most dystopian shit. Every Republican should be forced to wear this around their necks for as long as their

jackboot party still fucking exists.

Without the right to life, there is no "liberty" or "pursuit of happiness."

This is them outright fucking saying they want most of us to die and have no qualms with using policy decisions to do it. It's a monumental confession and quite literally the stuff rebellions are made of.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

18. Maddow Blog-Pressed on Medicaid cuts, Iowa's Ernst tells constituents, 'Well, we're all going to die'

While everyone’s life will eventually come to an end, politicians rarely say, “We’re all going to die” when talking about their health care proposals.

Republicans have prepared all kinds of talking points for officials to use when asked about the GOP’s brutal Medicaid cuts.

I have a hunch “Well, we’re all going to die” — the line Iowa’s Joni Ernst used this morning — wasn’t on the list. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-05-30T16:18:50.435Z

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/joni-ernst-iowa-town-hall-we-are-all-going-to-die-rcna209983

There’s no shortage of controversial elements of the Republican Party’s far-right megabill — the inaptly named “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — but the proposed Medicaid cuts aren’t just dangerous for low-income families. They’re also proving to be the most politically dangerous for GOP officials and candidates.

Party strategists have advised Republicans on how best to talk about the legislation, but I have a hunch the party’s consultants and spin doctors didn’t recommend the phrasing that Sen. Joni Ernst used during a town hall meeting with her Iowa constituents on Friday morning. The New York Times reported:

Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, had a gloomy message for constituents at a town hall in Butler County, Iowa, on Friday morning: ‘We all are going to die.’ Ms. Ernst was fielding questions about cuts to Medicaid that were included in the domestic policy bill working its way through Congress, when someone in the audience yelled out that the effect would be that ‘people are going to die.’ ‘Well, we all are going to die,’ Ms. Ernst responded, drawing jeers from the crowd.

And while it’s certainly true that everyone’s life will, eventually, come to an end, policymakers tend not to comment on that fact when talking to the public about the effects of their health care proposals.

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:hjxzxx2t23ocgelrlss2ax7a/post/3lqfey6b2bc26

Link to tweet

.....The problem with that, however, is that her assurances aren’t altogether true. According to the Congressional Budget Office, many struggling Americans who currently meet the eligibility requirements for Medicaid would likely lose their health security as a direct result of the Republican’s reconciliation package

“We’re not going to cut those benefits, what we are doing is making sure that those who are not Medicaid eligible are not receiving benefits,” Ernst said at her event. But as a HuffPost report explained, “Experts ... consider tightening Medicaid eligibility and thereby reducing its expenditures to be the same as cutting the program.”

What’s more, offered an opportunity to walk back the senator’s comments, Ernst’s office did largely the opposite. A spokesperson for Ernst said in a statement, “There’s only two certainties in life: death and taxes, and she’s working to ease the burden of both by fighting to keep more of Iowans’ hard-earned tax dollars in their own pockets and ensuring their benefits are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse.”

The Iowa Republican is up for re-election next year. It’s a safe bet locals haven’t heard the last of this one.

These comments will be in a ton of ads

[Karasu]

34. They should be in every anti-Republican ad until the end of time.

[surfered]

20. Well, because of RFK, Jr at HHS, halting Covid and flu vaccines,

…DOGE layoffs, Medicaid cuts, and Medicare cuts, we are surely all going to die sooner

[Karasu]

35. Much sooner. And that's the part she oh-so-conveniently chose to leave out.

[surfered]

53. And our early deaths will mean even more money available for tax cuts for millionaires

[rsdsharp]

21. I have no idea who is going to run against her in 2026,

but whoever he, or she is, the video of this statement needs to be hung around Joooooniiii’s neck like a boat anchor.

[Picaro]

24. Way these people act these days makes me wonder

Have they found a way into the voting tabulation systems. Or is she assuming Trump will declare martial law and cancel all elections?

We all die? Seriously? Or are Iowans so reliably stupid they’d re-elect someone who tells them to their faces she doesn’t care if they live or die.

[drmeow]

25. It is such a shame

that her sire wasn't castrated on the family farm when that pig castration she loves so much was going on. Would have been nice to save the world from her!

[Cha]

28. Phoni Joni: "Well We're All Going to Die.." We're Just

helping that Process Along As Fast As We Can.."

[Godot51]

29. What Joni means:

"Well, we're all going to die, only I will die later, more comfortably, much wealthier, and in much less misery and pain. Isn't that fair? Isn't that in god's plan? Sounds about right, to me".

[riversedge]

30. Yes, Joni we all will die at some point--but YOU will have insurance-treatment, surgery if needed and pain meds

Others will die in pain without Medicaid.

[sueroseus]

68. Starve with Joni,

and she'll starve last.

[TomSlick]

31. She's playing to the MAGAt crowd.

She will likely be challenged from the right in the GOP primary. How that works in the general remains to be seen.

[Karasu]

38. Can't wait to see the quality of human excrement who manages to run to the right of "you don't deserve health care

because you're all going to die."

But I'm sure they'll manage to find someone. They always fucking do.

[TomSlick]

41. I can wait. It won't be pretty.

In Iowa, a more stalwart MAGAt has the edge in winning the general.

[Karasu]

46. I was being sarcastic, but yeah. If Ernst isn't "stalwart" enough for these fucking people, I dread to see what the fuck

kind of subhuman filth they're going to dredge up.

[Norrrm]

37. Of course we all are going to die. It's God's will. If we die earlier due to republicans' cruelty and greed, it is

Of course we all are going to die. It's God's will. If we die earlier due to republicans' cruelty and greed, it is also God's will.

[BigDemVoter]

39. Yeah, and that sad sack of shit has gold plated healthcare

courtesy of Uncle Sam. Fuck her.

[BidenRocks]

40. You're right Joni. We will all die.

Some of us sooner than others!

[BigmanPigman]

43. What, is she "the Godfather" now?

Sleep with fishes, horse heads in beds....Hey Joni, which do YOU prefer? You are going to DIE Joni and I hope it is within 24 hours. Hell, I'll chip in a few bucks to put a contract out on her. Who is passing the hat?

[Karasu]

47. The thing is...if that actually happened to her after saying this, the GOP would have NO moral leg to stand on.

She literally just said we don't deserve health care because we're all going to die.

[multigraincracker]

44. Eat the rich.

Joni as a last meal.

[The Madcap]

45. Nope

I don't need food poisoning.

[Mysterian]

48. That's the republican health care plan

"We're all going to die."

[Intractable]

49. She looked small -- like a little kid in an adult's chair.

[58Sunliner]

50. What an utter pos....

I can't say what I'm thinking. Karma come on down.

[pazzyanne]

60. Karma...

will hit not just her, but it will hit her family members as well. Just desserts?

[Blue Owl]

51. Not the good kind of mic drop

[IronLionZion]

52. GOP health plan is "Die Quickly" nt

[Strelnikov_]

54. Let them eat cake

Ooh, there's no bread, let them eat cake
There's no end to what they'll take
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth
Wash the salt into the earth

But they're marching to Bastille Day
The guillotine will claim her bloody prize
Free the dungeons of the innocent
The king will kneel and let his kingdom rise

Ooh, bloodstained velvet, dirty lace
Naked fear on every face
See them bow their heads to die
As we would bow when they rode by

And we're marching to Bastille Day
The guillotine will claim her bloody prize
Sing, oh choirs of cacophony
The king has kneeled to let his kingdom rise

Lessons taught but never learned
All around us anger burns
Guide the future by the past
Long ago, the mould was cast

For they marched up to Bastille Day
The guillotine claimed her bloody prize
Hear the echoes of the centuries
Power isn't all that money buys
Oh!

[Intractable]

58. You should credit the band if you are going to quote their lyrics.

RIP Neal Peart

[dlk]

55. This would include billionaires who can't take it with them

So why not share a little?

[Delphinus]

56. OMG!

What an awful response!

Beyond that egregious reply, these are the "death panels" Sarah Palin talked about so many years ago.

[Grins]

57. Thought this was another Republican. "Joni Ernst" should be in the headline

I have never liked her, going back to her “bread bags” for shoes moment long ago.

She was raped in college and abused by her husband. Did she vote to confirm Hegseth who was accused of rape and assault on women???

Do you really have to ask?

[3catwoman3]

59. What a crass and contemptuous thing to say.

Go to hell, Joni.

[raccoon]

61. That remark shows her (and the rest of the Reptilicans) incredible arrogance.

[betsuni]

62. Now THAT'S "ignoring the working class."

I want anyone, especially elected officials, accusing Democrats of ignoring the American people, having no policies or message, are the same as Republicans, to shut the fuck up and go join the Republicans already.

[SKKY]

64. That's the Republican health plan...

...Don't get sick! But if you do, die quickly. Turns out Alan Grayson was right all along.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

65. I remember when he said that!

The horror on House Republican's faces then.

NOTHING has changed with them.

[SKKY]

69. The horror was because they knew he was right...

...and calling them out. Republicans don't care if people die. That's just a fact. It's part of their Libertarian philosophy.

[LymphocyteLover]

66. She's up for re-election in 2026 and Dems need to run this on an ad on a loop

Prime Senate pickup!

[usregimechange]

67. This is what we run on!!!!