BURSTMSNBC pundit Joe Scarborough tangled with Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) over recent cuts to Medicaid passed by Congress as part of President Trump's spending bill.
During a discussion about the cuts on Scarborough's morning talk show, Lawler accused the Congressional Budget Office of "parroting is the same talking points being put out by the state and by the hospital association."
"So they're parroting they — what, you know their business better than — you know their business better than they know their business," Scarborough said as the Republican tried to interject. "Congressman, you can keep talking if you want to, but are you saying that they know — you know their business, you know doctors' business, you know, hospital administrators' business better than they know their own business? Is that what you’re telling us here?"
"No, Joe," Lawler responded. "If you’d stop putting words in my mouth and let me answer the question, number one — "
Scarborough interrupted again saying "You said they were parroting. You said that actually they were having the words put into their mouth. You said — you said they were parroting other people’s words!"
Lawler responded by saying "go look what they’ve actually put out, and it’s all the same."
"It’s all the same points that the Greater New York Hospital Association and that the state of New York are parroting," he said.
Congress earlier this summer passed the largest Medicaid cuts in history through the GOP’s spending bill reducing benefits by $1 trillion, a move that is expected to push more than 12 million low-income individuals off their health insurance over the next ten years.
Cuts to Medicaid are seen as an issue Democrats are hoping to use as a weapon against Republicans and Trump in the upcoming midterm elections.