Sen. Jim Banks told a fired employee of the Department of Health and Human Services that he “probably deserved” to lose his job in a video that has gone viral, People reported on Wednesday.
The interaction between the Indiana Republican and Mack Schroeder on Tuesday was caught on video and shared by multiple outlets.
In the video, Schroeder follows and addresses Banks as he walks to an elevator.
“Hi, I was a worker at HHS. I was fired illegally on February 14,” Schroeder said. “There are many people who are not getting social service programs, especially people with disabilities. Are you gonna do anything to stop what’s happening?”
“You probably deserved it,” Banks said when he entered the elevator.
“I deserved it?” Schroeder asked.
“You probably deserved it,” the senator repeated.
“Why did I deserve it?” Schroeder said.
“Because you seem like a clown,” Banks replied.
He then smiled as the elevator doors closed.
Schroeder spoke to WISH-TV about the encounter: “I was just a bit taken aback. I don’t know him personally. I don’t know about his work as a senator. I feel like I didn’t approach him in an antagonistic way in any way. I was just asking him what he was going to do to support constituents in his state.”
On Wednesday, Banks posted a video on X in which he said: “I won’t back down. I won’t apologize for it. I support President Trump and the DOGE effort 100% to cut wasteful spending and woke jobs out of the federal government and we are just getting started,” referring to the Department of Government Efficiency.
The senator also called the job Schroeder was fired from a “left-wing woke job in the federal government that should have never been a job to begin with.”
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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