By A fiery exchange on CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip has gone viral, laying bare the widening chasm between progressives and conservatives on one of the most contentious issues in American politics: whether taxpayers should fund healthcare for those in the country illegally. The segment featured conservative strategist Scott Jennings squaring off with a panel of Democratic commentators who argued that healthcare is a “universal right” regardless of immigration status.
The segment quickly went viral, with viewers seizing on the stark contrast between Jennings’ calm skepticism and the panel’s impassioned calls to extend taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants. For many, the moment encapsulated growing frustration with progressive policies seen as out of touch with everyday voters—fueling renewed debate over whether moral idealism can justify the economic burden such proposals would impose.
🚨WOW — Scott Jennings might’ve outdone himself last night.
Watch him sit back as Democrats passionately demand illegal aliens get free healthcare from illegal immigrants.
No wonder nobody wants to vote Democrat. pic.twitter.com/OFyzWgqRUF
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 6, 2025
At the center of the clash was a stark ideological contrast. One Democratic panelist insisted, “Every single person in the world deserves healthcare,” prompting Jennings to push back: “Even illegals?” When panelists doubled down, Jennings pressed further—“Who do you think pays for health care when undocumented people show up at the hospital?”—forcing the conversation into the uncomfortable territory of economic consequences and resource scarcity.
The dispute comes as new data reveals the scope of the issue. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, half of likely undocumented adults in the U.S. remained uninsured in 2023, compared to just 8% of native-born citizens. While blue states like California and New York City have expanded access to undocumented residents, those efforts now face headwinds from budget shortfalls and a resurgent Trump administration vowing to dismantle such programs.
Democrats on the panel attempted to invoke America’s past, with one contributor citing slavery and historical injustices as a moral rationale for healthcare access. Jennings, unmoved, countered that these appeals ignore present-day voter sentiment and budgetary strain—an argument echoed by millions of viewers online. “This is exactly why Democrats are losing independents,” one user wrote.
Polling continues to show the public remains deeply divided. A CNN poll from 2019 found that 59% of Americans oppose publicly funded healthcare for undocumented immigrants, with support collapsing among Republicans and remaining strong only among the Democratic base. That rift played out in real time during the broadcast, where moral idealism clashed with economic skepticism.
In 2020, every Democrat raised their hand during their presidential primary debate to say they’d give illegal aliens free healthcare. At the time, The New York Post noted, “The costs would be enormous. According to Pew Foundation researchers, there are 10.5 million illegal immigrants living in the United States now. Yale University and MIT demographers estimate double that.
If the entire illegal immigrant population were enrolled in Medicaid, the tab would range from a whopping $84 billion a year (10.5 million times $8,015 per person Medicaid cost) to more than double that, $176 billion. But that estimate needs to be pared to reflect the millions of illegals who work and already get insurance through an employer. Covering uninsured illegal immigrants, then, is likely to cost $40 billion to $80 billion a year.”
That number has only skyrocketed as millions more undocumented migrants came into the United States during the Biden term and the cost of healthcare has gone up.
Early in the Trump term, DOGE discovered that “millions” fo noncitizens were receiving Social Security and Medicare on the taxpayer’s dime.
The segment only underscores a growing national fault line as state budgets tighten and federal enforcement stiffens. Democrats have “Americans they care about,” and it’s not who you’d think it is.
[Read More: What Really Sparked The Musk-Trump Feud]
