An interview between CNN host Boris Sanchez and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) got heated on Friday during an exchange about Republicans' plans to cut Medicaid funding.

The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee failed to pass President Donald Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill" on Friday, with five Republicans joining all 16 Democrats to shoot down the legislation. While the bill imposed stricter work requirements on Medicaid recipients and made other changes to the program that would lead to less money for the low-income and disabled Americans who rely on it, those five Republicans sought deeper cuts to Medicaid and opposed the bill on those grounds.

Malliotakis defended the bill's current changes to Medicaid's funding structure as a "compromise" that ought to "move forward." She also said she would oppose any legislation that made deeper cuts to the program than those already in the current bill. But when Sanchez asked the New York Republican how many of her own constituents were at risk of losing their health coverage, she balked at the question.

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"Some 40% of your constituents in New York's 11th district rely on Medicaid. 89,000 of them are actually kids," Sanchez said. "Do you have an estimate on how many of them would lose eligibility under this plan?"

"Under the current plan, they don't lose eligibility," she responded. "I mean, again, we particularly made sure that we protected the people who Medicaid was meant for. The individuals who will have a problem are are fraudsters, people in the country illegally ... But if they're able-bodied and they have no dependents, then they should be contributing to society and working."

Sanchez pushed back, and pointed out that there are people who will nonetheless fall through the cracks of means testing and that people who meet eligibility requirements can still be denied coverage through no fault of their own. The congresswoman maintained that the only people who would be cut off of Medicaid rolls are "illegal immigrants" and people who refuse to work. But when Sanchez asked her for a hard number of her constituents who would be included in that group, Malliotakis couldn't answer.

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"I'm explaining to you right now, if you're if you're listening to me," she said curtly, as Sanchez continued to ask her about numbers pertaining to New York's 11th Congressional District. "If you're not eligible, you should not be receiving benefits. It's as simple as that. That makes you a fraudster."

"Now look, it seems to me that you guys just want to try to act like Republicans are trying to kick off people who are eligible for the program. That is not the case," Malliotakis insisted. "If you are a fraudster, one of the 1.5 million taking advantage of the program."

"I'm trying to clarify the reason i'm asking you this question. There are concerns that folks that may be eligible may be kicked off of these programs because they don't meet some of these requirements, even though, in the view of many Americans, they should be receiving some kind of help," Sanchez said.

"Okay, so you don't let me explain. I'm trying to explain to you. So if you don't want to hear the answer, then don't have me on the show," Malliotakis snapped.

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Watch the full exchange below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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