Grave Offense: Joni Ernst Mocked the Dying, Then Filmed Her ‘Apology’ in a Cemetery

When Lawmakers Shrug at Death, It’s Time to Pay Attention Because Someone Else Always Pays the Price

It should’ve been a moment for reflection, remorse, maybe even a course correction. Instead, it evolved into political performance art — macabre, mocking, and unmistakably cruel.

Standing in a cemetery, framed by gravestones, Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) delivered what she called an apology for her earlier comments on Medicaid cuts. But it wasn’t remorseful. It wasn’t thoughtful. It wasn’t even serious. With a smug tone and a smirk, she quipped about the Tooth Fairy, nodded to Jesus Christ as the path to eternal life, and repeated what had already sparked public outrage: “We are all going to perish from this Earth.”

This wasn’t contrition. It was a funeral for empathy.

Just days earlier, at a town hall in Parkersburg, Iowa, a constituent expressed grave concern that proposed cuts to Medicaid under the Trump-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill” could result in deaths. Ernst’s response? “Well, we all are going to die.” The audience gasped. Some booed. The internet exploded.

Rather than clarify, correct, or apologize in good faith, Ernst doubled down, this time from a literal graveyard, as if to say, “You’re worried about dying? Here’s where you’ll end up anyway.”

For the tens of millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid, including children, seniors in nursing homes, and people with disabilities, this wasn’t just a bad joke. It was a brutal reminder of who gets dismissed, dehumanized, and discarded when budget cuts are made from a marble office, not a hospital bed.

This is more than a gaffe. It’s a pattern. And it’s about to collide with real political consequences.

What She Said and Why It Hit a Nerve

It started with a simple, urgent question. At a packed town hall in rural Iowa, a concerned constituent stood up and asked Senator Joni Ernst how she could support sweeping Medicaid cuts when so many lives depended on it. Their voice was shaking, but resolute. “People will die,” they said.

Ernst didn’t flinch. She didn’t soften. Instead, with a shrug and a smile, she replied: “Well, we all are going to die.”

The room went quiet. A few nervous chuckles floated in the back. Then the crowd erupted, some booing, others sitting in stunned silence. It wasn’t just what she said. It was how she said it. Casual. Dismissive. As if the prospect of vulnerable Americans dying due to lack of healthcare was not a crisis, but a cosmic inevitability.

See our previous coverage of the townhall fiasco:

GOP Town Halls Turn Explosive: Budget Bill Backlash Erupts Across America

John Oliver Buries Joni Ernst—Literally and Figuratively

To many watching — in the room and across the internet — it felt like a mask dropping. The cruelty was no longer hidden in policy language. It was right there in plain view: If you’re poor, if you’re sick, if you’re one of the millions who rely on Medicaid, your death is just part of the plan.

What Ernst might have expected to be a throwaway line at a town hall instead became a defining moment and a flashpoint for the debate over what kind of country we’re becoming.

This wasn’t just a senator being blunt. It was a senator refusing to recognize the humanity behind the numbers. Behind every dollar cut from Medicaid is a dialysis patient, a NICU baby, a long-term care resident, a working mom with breast cancer. When Ernst laughed off death, she wasn’t being philosophical; she was being politically honest.

Instead of repairing the damage, she grabbed a camera, headed to a graveyard, and tried to turn the outrage into content. But what she dismissed as performance has consequences, and the policy she defends could put thousands in actual graves.

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Medicaid Cuts That Could Kill

Ernst’s comment might’ve sounded like gallows humor, but the policy behind it is no joke. The Trump-backed “One Big Beautiful Bill” — the legislative monster she was defending — proposes over $1 trillion in cuts to the social safety net over the next decade. Medicaid, in particular, would be gutted.

According to projections from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, these cuts would result in:

• 8.7 million people losing Medicaid coverage

• 7.6 million more becoming completely uninsured

• Steep rollbacks in services for seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income children

That’s not speculation. It’s backed by decades of data. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that expansions in Medicaid significantly reduce mortality, particularly among vulnerable groups. When Medicaid is slashed, death rates go up — plain and simple.

But the GOP talking points don’t mention that. Instead, they wrap the proposal in hollow words like “fiscal responsibility” or “trimming waste.” What they don’t say is that Medicaid pays for nursing homes. It pays for in-home care. It keeps pregnant women alive and ensures children with chronic illnesses get to see a doctor.

In Iowa alone, Medicaid supports nearly 800,000 residents, almost one in four. And yet, Ernst stood in front of her constituents and shrugged off their fears like they were hypotheticals.

Ernst didn’t just mock the concern. She mocked the consequences, doing so with full theatrical flair, transforming a deadly policy into a culture war spectacle.

See our reporting here on the OBBB:

ICYMI: The One Big Beautiful Budget Breakdown

Political Theater, Cruelty, and Culture War

By now, we know the difference between a gaffe and a performance. Joni Ernst didn’t stumble into a cemetery with an iPhone and a guilty conscience. She chose that setting, selected the headstones, and turned a policy backlash into a punchline.

The message was crystal clear: You’re upset that people might die from Medicaid cuts? Fine. Here’s a graveyard. Cope.

This wasn’t just indifference. It was weaponized mockery. Instead of empathy, Ernst gave us evangelical sarcasm. Instead of reflection, she served performative religiosity. She pivoted from policy to piety, invoking Jesus Christ as the ultimate healthcare provider: “Embrace my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for eternal life,” she said, standing next to literal tombstones.

That line wasn’t for her critics. It was for her base, a wink and a prayer wrapped in political nihilism. In today’s GOP, cruelty isn’t a glitch; it’s a feature. It signals strength, toughness, “owning the libs.” And Ernst played the part like a seasoned actor in a B-movie horror flick, delivering her lines among the dead. At the same time, millions of living Americans worried about how they’ll afford their next doctor’s visit.

We should be clear about what this was: a culture war stunt dressed up as a religious homily, filmed in a graveyard, to deflect from the real issue, that the policy she supports could send people to early graves.

This show may not play well for much longer because voters are watching, and one challenger is already preparing to rewrite the script.

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The Backlash and the Challenger

Joni Ernst thought the graveyard bit would be a mic drop. Instead, it might be the moment that buries her career.

Within days of the video going viral, outrage poured in, not just from liberal corners of the internet, but from independents, moderates, and even longtime Iowa voters who’ve watched healthcare costs rise while wages stagnate. Local news outlets ran critical editorials. National commentators called it “ghoulish.” Faith leaders accused her of weaponizing Christianity to dodge moral accountability. And perhaps most importantly, a challenger stepped forward.

Enter J.D. Scholten, former professional baseball player, economic populist, and no stranger to the political spotlight. After narrowly losing to Rep. Steve King in 2018, Scholten earned respect across Iowa as a straight-talking, policy-driven advocate for working families. When Ernst’s video hit social media, Scholten didn’t just respond. He announced he’s running to unseat her.

“We don’t need graveyard jokes. We need healthcare,” he said. “If Senator Ernst thinks this is funny, she’s lost touch with the very people she was elected to serve.”

This race is now more than just a Senate seat. It’s a referendum on whether voters will choose compassion over cruelty, and the choice starts now.

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Call to Action: Compassion Over Cruelty

Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about Joni Ernst. This is about a system — and a party — that treats healthcare not as a right, but as a luxury. That mocks the vulnerable. That turns suffering into spectacle. And that’s willing to sacrifice lives in exchange for tax cuts and talking points.

Ernst’s graveyard video wasn’t a blunder. It was a billboard. A message to the rest of us: If you’re poor, sick, or scared, don’t look to us for help. Look to God. Look to the afterlife. Just don’t expect your government to keep you alive long enough to get there.

We don’t have to accept that.

We can fight for a country where compassion isn’t weakness — it’s policy, where Medicaid isn’t slashed with a smile, where no senator jokes about your death when you ask for care, and where leadership means listening, not laughing.

If you’re in Iowa, that fight starts with the 2026 election. But for the rest of us, the moment to act is now. Demand your representatives reject cuts to Medicaid and the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Flood their offices. Show up at their town halls. Make them look you in the eye before they vote to take away your care.

And don’t let them bury this moment under spin, sarcasm, or scripture. The gravestones were real. The stakes are real. And the next obituary won’t be a metaphor. It’ll be someone who needed a doctor and got a budget cut instead.

Take Action

Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
Tell your senator: Vote NO on Medicaid cuts. Real lives are at stake.

Bibliography:

• Weisman, Jonathan. “Ernst Mocked Medicaid Cuts at Town Hall, Then Doubled Down with Sarcastic Apology.” The Washington Post, June 3, 2025.

• Laws, Jasmine. “Joni Ernst's sarcastic 'apology' for Medicaid cuts response sparks fury.” Newsweek, June 2, 2025.

• Pilkington, Ed. “Republican senator criticized for mock apology after saying ‘we all are going to die’.” The Guardian, June 2, 2025.

• Gruber-Miller, Stephen. “Joni Ernst posts sarcastic apology video following comments that 'we all are going to die'.” Des Moines Register, June 3, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/06/03/jd-scholten-announces-campaign-against-joni-ernst

• King, Ryan. “GOP Sen. Joni Ernst gives mock apology to lefty critics for acknowledging ‘we all are going to die’ during Medicaid argument.” New York Post, June 1, 2025

• Howard, Andrew. “Ernst draws challenger after defending GOP megabill.” Politico, June 2, 2025.