Democrat hits GOP senator over viral town hall exchange

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, hit back at a Republican colleague who went viral after telling a town hall audience member that “we all are going to die” in response to concerns over Medicaid cuts.

“I think everybody in that audience knows that they’re going to die,” Murphy told CNN’s Dana Bash. “They would just rather die in old age at 85 or 90, instead of dying at 40.”

The comment come after Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, addressed federal cuts to Medicaid – which Republicans have proposed as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax bill – during a town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa, on May 30. As she was speaking, someone shouted from the audience, “people will die!”

Ernst then told the auditorium, “People are not – well, we all are going to die. For heaven’s sakes, folks.”

Medicaid, the program that provides health insurance to more than 71 million low-income Americans, would undergo big changes under the bill that passed in the House last month.

That includes new work requirements for some adults beginning in December 2026, more frequent eligibility checks and disincentives for states to cover unauthorized migrant children, among other provisions.

Collectively, the Medicaid proposal would save at least $625 billion and cause 7.6 million Americans to lose their health insurance over the next 10 years, according to initial estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Still, Ernst shared a sarcastic apology video after facing criticism from Democrats over her response to the town hall attendees’ concerns.

“Hello everyone,” she said in a video posted to social media. “I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall.”

“I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this Earth,” she added. “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.”

Republicans have said the proposed changes to Medicaid protect the program for those who need it, and their legislation is curbing waste and fraud. Democrats, like Murphy, argue the fallout will be felt by Americans across the country.

“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,” Murphy alleged in the interview on June 1.

Though Republicans control the Senate, the legislation isn’t expected to sail through the upper chamber. Several Senate Republicans, including Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Rand Paul of Kentucky, argue the bill comes with too high a price tag.

“This is our moment,” Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper in May. “We have witnessed an unprecedented level of increased spending … This is our only chance to reset that to a reasonable pre-pandemic level.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, and other champions of the legislation argue the legislation is an investment in America’s economy. But it’s expected to add around $3.3 trillion to the nation’s deficit over the next 10 years and swell the federal government’s debt.

Contributing: Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register; Riley Beggin

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dem Chris Muphy hits Republican Joni Ernst town hall Medicaid comment