‘We all are going to die’: GOP senator harshly dismisses voters’ fears
In one of the most jaw-dropping examples of how morally bankrupt the GOP is, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa dismissed a constituent’s fears that cuts to Medicaid in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will lead poor people to lose health insurance and die.
“Well, we all are going to die,” Ernst said at a Friday morning town hall in Iowa, after she grew angry that a constituent told her that “people will die” due to the legislation’s Medicaid cuts.
Attendees at Ernst’s town hall shouted that Ernst was a “liar” when she said she agrees with House Republican plans to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients, which experts say are costly to implement, don’t work, and lead eligible people to lose their coverage thanks to paperwork errors.
“We know the House has their provisions for Medicaid, and I actually agree with most of their provisions,” Ernst said of the House’s bill. “Everyone says that Medicaid is being cut, people are going to see their benefits cut—that’s not true.”
Ernst’s contemptuous comment to her constituents was quickly condemned by Democrats, who can now use this on-video moment in campaign ads amid her 2026 reelection campaign.
“What does Joni Ernst say to Medicaid cuts that will harm mothers and children, farmers and teachers, Iowans from Clinton to Council Bluffs? ‘Well, we’re all going to die,’” Iowa Democratic state Sen. Zach Wahls said in a post on X.
“Not giving a shit that your constituents will die just to give more money to druggie billionaires like Elon. That’s the Republican Party,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a post on X, which featured Ernst’s ‘We all are going to die’ comment.
Ernst was the latest GOP lawmaker to be met by angry voters at town halls since the House passed Donald Trump’s budget last week. The budget is expected to lead millions of people to lose their Medicaid and food stamp benefits, all to just partially offset the cost of tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the richest few.
Fellow Iowa Republican Ashley Hinson, one of Iowa’s four members of the U.S. House, was also shouted down by her constituents at a town hall earlier this week for voting for the House GOP tax bill.
“The president is, I believe, fighting for you and fighting for me,” Hinson said at the town hall, and the crowd responded with intense booing.
And Rep. Mike Flood from neighboring Nebraska was also met by angry voters who demanded answers for why he’d vote for a bill that stripped benefits from low-income Americans.
“I voted for it in sync with almost the entire Republican conference,” Flood said at the town hall. “Because at the end of the day I have to focus on the things that matter and it celebrates the country that we love and continent that we love.”
The anger Republicans are facing from voting for the “One Big Beautiful Bill” is a sign Republicans could pay a political price in the 2026 midterm elections.
Polling shows voters do not support cutting Medicaid and food stamps in order to pay for tax cuts.
And Democrats plan to hammer GOP lawmakers for voting for the legislation.
“It’s a vote that every single vulnerable House Republican will come to regret next year,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which helps elect Democrats to the House, wrote in a May 22 memo.