Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) is under fire after a video of her making a shocking joke about Medicaid cuts went viral — and even longtime Republicans are now questioning whether she’s mentally unraveling.
At a town hall on Friday, Ernst was confronted by concerned constituents over the GOP’s budget proposal, which includes major cuts to Medicaid. Instead of easing their fears, she snapped back: “Well, we’re all going to die anyway.”
The moment, caught on video, spread rapidly online. But instead of backing down, Ernst doubled down—this time from a cemetery. With biting sarcasm, she apologized for “breaking the news” that people are going to die — and that the “tooth fairy isn’t real” either. She even told voters that if they want to be saved, they should follow Jesus.
The response was swift — and brutal.
Republican pollster Sarah Longwell slammed Ernst on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, warning that the senator’s behavior was not just out of touch, but possibly unwell.
“That video of her, it looks like she must be having a nervous breakdown,” Longwell said. “She is in a cemetery while she is making that joke.”
“One of the first rules about making a joke like that is it should be funny. And there was nothing funny about that,” she continued. “It was — I think what the kids call ‘cringe’ is how it felt.”
She also called out Ernst for using a tactic borrowed from Donald Trump — saying something offensive, refusing to apologize, then doubling down.
“It’s like, you say something stupid, you don’t apologize, you double down. And so, that was her doubling down,” Longwell said.
But Ernst may have done more damage than she realizes.
“What she did was highlight the thing that is the most pernicious about the bill, which is that people are going to lose Medicaid,” Longwell warned. “Republicans are out there desperately trying to convince people that’s not true. They are lying to people about what this bill does.”
Longwell pointed out that Ernst’s tone-deaf comments risk alienating the very voters Republicans need most — working-class Americans in rural areas who rely on Medicaid and other services.
“That includes now a lot of people who are on Medicare, a lot of people who depend on these social services,” she said. “Mocking them — that’s why Trump is very populist about these things. He tries to act all the time like they won’t touch these programs.”
As for Ernst’s doubling down? Longwell called it a major misstep.
“Drawing more attention to the fact that it will do real harm is one of those big PR disasters that, I think, they think they’re being clever on. But is absolutely going to backfire.”
The viral moment has now shifted from just bad optics to real questions about Ernst’s judgment — and whether she can hold up under pressure.
Watch the segment below from MSNBC:
