WATCH: GOP Senator Calls Fired HHS Worker A “Clown” – “You Probably Deserved It”

Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) went viral for a video where he told a fired HHS worker that he “probably deserved it.”

“I was a worker at HHS. I was fired illegally on February 14th. There are many people who are not getting social service programs, especially people with disabilities. Are you going to do anything to stop what’s happening?” the individual asked Banks.

“You probably deserved it,” Banks responded.

“I deserved it? I deserved it. Wow. Yeah. That’s great to hear. Why did I deserve it?” he continued.

“Because you seem like a clown,” Banks added.

WATCH:

NEW: Republican Senator Jim Banks calls a fired HHS worker a “clown” after the man followed him around, demanding he get his job back.

You could not have timed the elevator door closing better than this.

Worker: “Are you gonna do anything to stop what’s happening?”

Banks: “You… pic.twitter.com/TUcnGY5wb0

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 1, 2025

Per USA TODAY:

Sen. Jim Banks said Wednesday he’s not apologizing after a video spread online showing the Indiana Republican calling a fired federal worker who confronted him on camera over sweeping government cuts “a clown” who “probably deserved” to lose his job.

The exchange in Washington, D.C., garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Instagram and X. It led some conservatives to praise Banks for “brutal honesty” and others to question the senator’s remarks as thousands of federal workers face mass layoffs under the Trump administration.

In a video posted on X Wednesday morning, Banks said he would not “back down” from his comments or support of Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency’s federal government cuts.

“The Democrats and the left-wing media have lost their minds because I told a left-wing activist in the halls of the Senate office buildings yesterday what I really thought,” said Banks in the post. “A clown is a clown, who’s chasing senators through the halls with a cellphone, complaining about losing a left-wing ‘woke’ job in the federal government that should have never been a federal job to begin with.”

WATCH:

I won’t apologize for speaking the truth.

I 100% support President Trump and DOGE’s mission to cut woke spending and government waste. pic.twitter.com/adkNl0U1Oj

— Senator Jim Banks (@SenatorBanks) April 2, 2025

Daily Mail reports:

While the first tranche of employees at the massive Health and Human Services Department were let go in February, more learned their jobs had been cut on Tuesday.

Emails were sent out on Tuesday telling employees that their jobs were being eliminated.

The cuts include researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders, leaving the federal government without many of the key experts who have long guided US decisions on medical research, drug approvals and other issues.

‘The revolution begins today!’ Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on social media.

He later added: ‘Our hearts go out to those who have lost their jobs’ but said that the department needs to be ‘recalibrated’ to emphasize disease prevention.

At the time of his announcement, it was anticipated that it would result in 20,000 fewer jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services. About 10,000 were to be eliminated through layoffs.