The Republican senator sparked a controversy with her rhetoric about her party's proposed Medicaid cuts. A follow-up video made matters worse.
Maybe Iowa’s Joni Ernst genuinely doesn’t understand why her “we are all going to die†line was a problem.
Or maybe she’s doing an excellent imitation of someone who’s easily confused. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-06-02T12:01:52.974Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/weird-video-iowas-joni-ernst-leans-are-going-die-message-rcna210315
This did not go unnoticed. Not only did Democrats pounce on the GOP senator’s rather morbid defense of her party’s agenda, but local news outlets treated the senator’s quote as front-page news.
A day later, the Iowan — who, incidentally, will face voters again in next year’s midterm election cycle — decided to double down. The Washington Post reported:
While outrage at Ernst’s glib comment was immediate, on Saturday, the senator doubled down with a sarcastic response shared on Instagram. “I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth,” she said in a video filmed in what appeared to be a cemetery. “So I apologize, and I’m really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well[/i].”
The video, which the senator filmed herself in what appeared to be a cemetery, was roughly a minute long.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lqipqc2gdk25
.....The senator sparked a controversy, not by telling a secret about human mortality, but by expressing indifference to the real-world consequences of her own party’s policy agenda. Told that Republican plan would lead to people’s untimely demise, Ernst could’ve pushed back and explained why the criticisms are mistaken, but she instead suggested that if GOP health care plans lead to fatalities, it doesn’t much matter, since “we are all going to die” anyway.
Imagine if, 15 years ago, as Republicans peddled “death panels” nonsense while attacking the Affordable Care Act, Democratic senators responded,
“Well, we all are going to die.” If you’re thinking that it’d be a rather major development, you’re right.
The difference, however, is that “death panels” were a ridiculous myth, while GOP officials really are trying to advance brutal health care cuts, including the biggest Medicaid cuts ever.
Asked for his reaction to Ernst’s rhetoric, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CNN’s Dana Bash,
“I think everybody in that audience knows that they’re going to die. They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40. And the reality is that, when you lose your health care, you are much more at risk of early death. And when rural hospitals close because of this bill, when drug treatment clinics close in Iowa and rural America because of this bill, more people will die at a younger age. “So the reality is, this bill is about life and death. ... I wish Joni and others saw the immorality of what they’re doing.”
Stepping back, let’s not forget that Republicans have had plenty of time to come up with credible defenses for their own proposed Medicaid cuts. Ernst’s on-stage rhetoric and her weird follow-up video suggest the party’s messaging efforts aren’t going especially well.
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