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Republican Senator Mitch McConnell said during a closed-door meeting with Republicans on Tuesday that people worried about cuts to Medicaid as a result of the Senate’s reconciliation bill will “get over it,” Punchbowl News reported.
The outlet first reported the news in a text message sent to subscribers, and it was later published on X, formerly Twitter.
According to Punchbowl, McConnell made his comments while addressing the possibility that the GOP could face major electoral losses due to the bill.
“I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid,” McConnell said, per Punchbowl. “But they’ll get over it.”
The former Senate majority leader added that “failure” to pass the bill “isn’t an option.”
A spokesperson for McConnell told Newsweek that the senator’s comments were taken out of context, saying in a statement: “Senator 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.”
They added: “Senator McConnell was urging his fellow members to highlight that message to our constituents and remind them that we should all be against waste, fraud, and abuse while working to protect our rural hospitals and have safety nets in place for people that need it.”
This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow.
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