'Bizarro': Josh Hawley sets off shockwaves after launching Medicaid grenade at House GOP

12 May

Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference in Palm Beach, Florida on July 16, 2023 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

As they fight over the specifics of President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," GOP lawmakers are expressing very different views on Medicaid. Some budget hawks in the House Freedom Caucus are calling for deep Medicaid cuts, while a group of House Republicans in swing districts are refusing to vote for any bill that defunds Medicare.

In the U.S. Senate, far-right Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) is telling fellow Republicans to keep their hands off Medicare.

In an op-ed published by The New York Times on Monday morning, May 12, Hawley — an ultra-MAGA Trump ally — expresses vehement opposition to Medicaid cuts.

"Mr. Trump has promised working-class tax cuts and protection for working-class social insurance, such as Medicaid," Hawley argues. "But now, a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans — call it the party's Wall Street wing — is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old-time religion: corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance. This wing of the party wants Republicans to build our big, beautiful bill around slashing health insurance for the working poor. But that argument is both morally wrong and politically suicidal."

Hawley's op-ed is getting a lot of reactions on X, formerly Twitter.

Attorney Cynthia Dill tweeted, "Conservatives conserving Medicaid? It's a new world. Democrats beware."

X user Ashley Smith posted, "Welcome to the bizarro world of US politics, in which Republican reactionaries sound more leftwing than most Democrats. The only silver lining--the vast majority of workers and the oppressed in the USA despise both parties."

Smith, in a separate tweet, posted, "The question remains, will the left break with the Democrats, lead an independent resistance, and build party of its own to chart a path forward of reform on the road to revolution?"

The New York Times' Margot Sanger-Katz wrote, "Mr. Hawley has been consistent on this point for months, and has voted for several budget amendments to protect the program."

The Times' Rebecca Raney humorously posted, "Gift link, in which the Senator from Missouri flexes his hammer and sickle.

Read Sen. Josh Hawley's full New York Times op-ed at this link (subscription required).

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