Vice President JD Vance joked on Thursday that he liked the idea of sending Medicaid fraudsters to Guantanamo Bay as he called for a broader crackdown on criminals abusing taxpayer-funded programs.
Speaking to a crowd in Maine about the administration’s efforts to crack down on Medicaid and Medicare fraud, Vance was interrupted by an attendee who urged the vice president to send criminals abusing the taxpayer-funded programs to “Gitmo” — a nickname for the detention camp at a U.S. base in Cuba.
“This guy just said, ‘Send them to Gitmo,’” Vance said, pointing to a member of the audience. “No comment, sir. But I kind of like sending the fraudsters to Gitmo. We got to get them out of this country, and we got to get them in prison.”
Vance tied Medicaid fraud in part to illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer-funded benefits, while also calling for broader crackdowns on fraudsters abusing the programs.
The vice president said in his remarks that Maine was right behind California and Minnesota in terms of numbers of Medicaid and Medicare fraud. He said the reason was that Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) was refusing to cooperate with the federal government on the crackdown.
VANCE PUSHES STATES TO ROOT OUT MEDICAID FRAUD OR RISK LOSING
“If you look at the fraud that has happened in this state, if you look at the illegal immigrant communities who have taken benefits that ought to, by right, go to the people in this room,” Vance said. “What you have in Maine is a festering problem where people have been taken advantage of, and they’ve been stolen from, and your government hasn’t done anything about it.”
“So let me ask you this simple question: Do you like having a government official who fights for illegal aliens over you?” Vance said.