On Thursday night time, MSNBC’s Jen Psaki highlighted a second from Home Speaker Mike Johnson’s look on C-SPAN, the place a pissed off caller claimed Republicans have been mendacity about unlawful aliens receiving Medicaid protection. In an effort to disprove Johnson, The Briefing host unusually cited data that Johnson didn’t particularly discuss with when urging the caller go search for himself.
The incident in query occurred on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, the place Johnson was pelted by a discontented caller from Colorado:
CALLER: My query is, if Republicans and Democrats can comply with a one-year extension to the ACA subsidies, eradicating this form of speaking level of unlawful immigrants draining our sources, as you sit right here and lie about this, would you help that invoice and produce it to a vote on the Home ground? This can be a huge query that I’ve for you. Thanks.
JOHNSON: Yeah, nicely, I am not mendacity. I am telling you the reality. And you’ll go take a look at all of the paperwork your self. Do not take a look at Republican paperwork. Take a look at the Congressional Finances Workplace who mentioned that we had at the least 1.4 million unlawful aliens draining the sources from Medicaid.
Again in June, the CBO launched a letter that said:
CBO estimates that enacting [OBBBA’s] part 44111 would enhance the variety of folks with out medical insurance by 1.4 million in 2034 as a result of, as a way to keep the 90 p.c federal matching fee, most states would cease utilizing state-only funds to supply medical insurance protection to individuals who don’t meet citizenship and immigration standing necessities for Medicaid enrollment.
In different phrases, states that had been offering unlawful aliens with well being care protection would obtain much less Medicaid funding from the federal authorities. Republicans didn’t need liberal states offering social providers to those that don’t deserve them. However Democrats wished a welfare state.
Psaki mockingly recited the Speaker’s recommendation:
Mike Johnson says he is not mendacity. It is an actual inform there. Says immigrants are draining sources from Medicaid. And you’ll go, quote, “take a look at the paperwork your self.” Thanks for that recommendation. Let’s just do that.
She then hoisted up a snapshot of an ABC Information article a few examine from the American Medical Affiliation:
This is a examine printed within the Journal of the American Medical Affiliation simply final night time. It discovered that in 2022, take care of undocumented immigrants made up solely 0.4 p.c of complete Medicaid spending, lower than half a p.c. That is it. There are the paperwork.
What? These weren’t the paperwork Johnson was referring to. So, to be clear, Psaki’s means of disproving Johnson’s argument was to take knowledge that didn’t account for the opposite three complete fiscal years in the course of the Biden administration? Obtained it.
Let’s do some math. Throughout the 2022 fiscal yr (since that’s the yr Psaki insisted on referencing) Medicaid expenditures totaled $824,236,342,440.
0.4 p.c of that complete comes out to almost $3.3 billion. Simply in 2022 alone. And that’s assuming all the info was truthfully reported.
Clearly, that’s far more than absolutely the ZERO Democrats have been claiming was spent on unlawful immigrants.
Since MSNBC wasn’t easy with its viewers, we’ll do their jobs for them. Right here is the examine Psaki referenced. The numbers Johnson referenced will be discovered right here, in addition to the precise provision that amended Medicaid spending. Hope that Colorado caller is studying.
The transcript is beneath. Click on “develop” learn:
MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki
October 9, 2025
9:42:50 p.m. EST
(…)
JEN PSAKI: And issues didn’t get significantly better for Mike Johnson from there.
[Cuts to video]
COLORADO CALLER [on Washington Journal, 10/09/25]: My query is, if Republicans and Democrats can comply with a one-year extension to the ACA subsidies, eradicating this form of speaking level of unlawful immigrants draining our sources, as you sit right here and lie about this, would you help that invoice and produce it to a vote on the Home ground? This can be a huge query that I’ve for you. Thanks.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA) [on Washington Journal, 10/09/25]: Yeah, nicely, I am not mendacity. I am telling you the reality. And you’ll go take a look at all of the paperwork your self. Do not take a look at Republican paperwork. Take a look at the Congressional Finances Workplace who mentioned that we had at the least 1.4 million unlawful aliens draining the sources from Medicaid.
[Cuts back to live]
PSAKI: Mike Johnson says he is not mendacity. It is an actual inform there. Says immigrants are draining sources from Medicaid. And you’ll go, quote, “take a look at the paperwork your self.” Thanks for that recommendation. Let’s just do that.
This is a examine printed within the Journal of the American Medical Affiliation simply final night time. It discovered that in 2022, take care of undocumented immigrants made up solely 0.4 p.c of complete Medicaid spending, lower than half a p.c. That is it. There are the paperwork. We will ship them to your workplace.
(…)
