Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has doubled down on her dismissive response to worries about GOP laws that features big Medicaid and meals help cuts.
On Friday, Ernst confronted offended constituents at a city corridor in Parkersburg, Iowa, with one girl within the crowd yelling, “People will die.”
Ernst replied, “People are not ― well, we all are going to die. So, for heaven’s sakes, folks.”
The retort was met with backlash and mockery. On Saturday afternoon, Ernst addressed the controversy with what might have initially appeared to some to be a real apology.
“Hello everyone, I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize for a statement that I made yesterday at my town hall,” Ernst stated in a video posted to her Instagram Story.
Ernst’s tone started to shift because the video continued.
“See, I was in the process of answering a question that had been asked by an audience member when a woman who was extremely distraught screamed out, from the back corner of the auditorium, ‘People are going to die!’”
It quickly grew to become crystal clear that Ernst had no intention of delivering an actual apology.
“And I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that yes, we are all going to perish from this earth,” Ernst stated. “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.”
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In a second video, she adopted up with a pitch for Christianity.
“But for those that would like to see eternal and everlasting life, I encourage you to embrace my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.”
Eagle-eyed observers may discover each movies had been filmed in a cemetery.
The non-apology went viral, with one X consumer noting that “Against all odds, Joni Ernst has made it worse.”
The Republican laws that sparked the city corridor trade on Friday consists of $1 trillion in cuts to federal well being and meals applications and would lead to an estimated 8 million fewer Individuals accessing medical insurance. The huge cuts offset the invoice’s almost $4 trillion in tax cuts, which largely profit larger incomes folks.
