Democrats Latch Onto Mitch McConnell’s ‘Heartless’ Medicaid Comments

Democrats are blasting Sen. Mitch McConnell as “heartless” after comments he made in a closed-door meeting about Medicaid cuts in the GOP spending bill.

“Absolutely heartless. Public sentiment matters. Keep being loud and fighting back. We’re in this together,” Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu posted on X about the Kentucky Republican’s statement.
In the meeting, McConnell “gave a short speech saying ‘failure is not an option’” about passing the bill, according to Punchbowl News. He then added, “I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid. But they’ll get over it.”

McConnell spokesperson Stephanie Penn later told Punchbowl that McConnell “was speaking about the people who are abusing Medicaid — the able-bodied Americans who should be working — and the need to withstand Democrats’ scare tactics when it comes to Medicaid.”

But Democrats have already latched onto McConnell’s language.

“That’s apparently the closing message from Senate Republicans before they vote to take away health care from millions of Americans — all to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. Unbelievable,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen wrote on X.
“These Medicaid cuts will kick 16 million Americans off their health care, close rural hospitals—forcing people to drive hours just to see their doctor—and gut funding for long term care for our seniors. No Sen McConnell, our people will not ‘get over it,’” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wrote.

“‘They’ll get over it’ ‘We are all going to die,’” Sen. Ruben Gallego wrote. “Republicans don’t care if you die as long as they get their billionaire tax cuts.”

Gallego was referring to comments made by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst last month. She was at a town hall and was discussing the legislation’s proposed changes to Medicaid when an audience member shouted that people would die.

“People are not — well, we all are going to die, so for heaven’s sakes,” Ernst said in response.

The exchange went viral and Democrats pounced. McConnell’s comments have provided another opportunity to highlight the same issue.
The “Medicaid cuts” the Democrats are referring to are part of Congress’s reconciliation legislation — referred to by President Donald Trump as the “one big, beautiful bill” — that is being negotiated in the Senate after it passed the House of Representatives. Reconciliation is a special congressional process that helps expedite some budget-related legislation.

One of Trump’s major asks for this round of budget legislation is a set of tax cuts, many for the nation’s most wealthy, and the expectation that it will all be budgetarily balanced out. It’s a tall order, and congressional Republicans have leveraged entitlement benefits, one of the federal government’s biggest expenses, as a potential target for spending cuts. The GOP has turned to options like state cost-sharing for food stamps and reducing federal spending on Medicaid.

Republicans have argued “cuts” would come only for those fraudulently receiving benefits. Experts have disagreed, and Democrats have hammered the GOP for these benefit “cuts.” McConnell’s language has seemingly provided Democrats another opportunity to do so.
“‘They’ll get over it’ is what Mitch McConnell has to say to the 16 million Americans who will have their health care terminated because of this disastrous Republican bill. Republicans might not care if our constituents have health care, but I do,” Sen. Tammy Baldwin posted on X.

“That’s not policy—it’s indifference dressed as governance. ‘Let them eat cake,’ rebranded. We’re not letting this slide. The fight continues,” Rep. Troy Carter wrote.

“I hope Republicans can ‘get over it’ when they lose their seats in the midterms,” DNC communications director Rosemary Boeglin said in a statement.