A veteran Republican pollster has raised serious concerns over Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R-IA) recent remarks and viral video, describing the moment as politically disastrous and “cringeworthy.” The controversy began during a town hall meeting last Friday, where Ernst responded dismissively to concerns from her constituents over proposed Medicaid cuts in the GOP-backed budget bill.
“Well, we’re all going to die anyway,” Ernst told the audience, remarks that quickly spread across social media and drew widespread backlash. Rather than walk back her comments, Ernst later doubled down, telling voters she was sorry for having to break the news that “death was coming” and joking that the tooth fairy wasn’t real either.
The fallout from her remarks sparked debate on MSNBC’s Deadline: White House, where Republican pollster Sarah Longwell joined host Nicolle Wallace to weigh in.
“First of all, that video of her, it looks like she must be having a nervous breakdown. She is in a cemetery while she is making that joke,” said Longwell. “And one of the first rules about making a joke like that is that it should be funny. And there was nothing funny about that.
It was, I think, what the kids call ‘cringe’ is how it felt.” Longwell suggested Ernst’s response followed a political playbook borrowed from former President Donald Trump, where instead of apologizing for controversial remarks, politicians double down.
“It’s like, you say something stupid, you don’t apologize, you double down. And so, that was her doubling down,” Longwell explained. “But this is the kind of thing that Democrats should be all over, because what she did was highlight the thing that is the most pernicious about the bill, which is that people are going to lose Medicaid.”
She added that Republicans are “desperately trying to convince people that’s not true,” as cutting Medicaid remains widely unpopular, even among GOP voters. Longwell also pointed out the shifting dynamics within the Republican base, especially under Trump.
“That includes now a lot of people who are on Medicare. A lot of people depend on these social services. A lot of lower-income Americans and rural areas,” she noted. “So 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.”
In closing, Longwell warned that Ernst’s remarks may backfire politically. “Her sort of doubling down on this and drawing more attention to the fact that it will do real harm is one of those big PR disasters… It is absolutely going to backfire.”