Ernst’s ‘going to die’ remark is profound

Joni Ernst’s glib dismissal of a constituent’s anguish over Medicaid cuts resulting in unnecessary deaths for lack of insurance coverage (“Well, we are all going to die.”) was bad enough. But it could have been repaired so easily. Instead, she followed it up with an especially sarcastic Instagram video comparing constituents upset about loss of health care to believers in the tooth fairy and inviting them to Christianity instead.

Infantilizing Iowans who have legitimate concerns about health care and premature death goes beyond sarcasm, beyond smarmy, beyond disrespectful to downright contemptuous of the people she was elected to represent. Does she think there are no MAGA voters who depend on Medicaid? Does she know that Republican rural voters are deeply concerned about loosing more local hospitals? Does she think that the only people who worry about these things are Democrats? The insult is profound, senator and deeply felt.

Bryan Davis

Cedar Rapids