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Freshman U.S. Representative Sarah McBride of Delaware sat down with me for one of the most powerful conversations we’ve had yet on At Our Table. She opened up about the personal loss that propelled her into public service, the fight for healthcare as a basic right, and the national stakes of a Congress that too often treats cruelty as sport.
Sarah’s story isn’t just about Delaware. It’s about America. The fragility of our democracy is revealed in how we treat one another, especially in moments of vulnerability. And right now, with the Trump Administration and Republicans pushing the largest Medicaid cuts in history, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
“It was my experience as a caregiver to the man who would become my husband, Andy, during his battle with cancer that I really had the experiences that propelled me to run for the State Senate and then eventually to run for Congress… From the first moment after being diagnosed, we knew how lucky we were… I ran because I don’t believe that… the ability to get care should be a matter of luck. I think it should be the law of the land.”
That moral clarity is why Sarah is sounding the alarm about the Republican bill that rips nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid and ACA funding.
“This big, ugly bill… inserted the single largest cut in Medicaid in American history and what amounts to the single greatest evisceration of healthcare in our country’s history, period… The reality is… $1 trillion in cuts is essentially a ticking time bomb that congressional Republicans and Donald Trump have inserted into the American healthcare system. And it will go off in 2027… with collateral damage that impacts all of us.”
But Sarah doesn’t stop at policy. She lays bare the culture in today’s Congress:
“For so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, the cruelty really is the point. They not only do not care, they in some cases relish the harm that they are inflicting on people… To see people who… care so little for their own constituents and the effects… is jarring and sad to see up close.”
And yet, she refuses to be dragged into the spectacle:
“When I talk about this being a reality TV show… What is the best way to get air time…? It’s to pick a fight with someone… and look the good news is for me is that in a feud it takes two to tango and i can't fucking dance. I refuse to participate in the antics… because while I can’t dance, I can legislate. And that is what I am here to do.”
As I told Sarah at the table: Her courage is more than personal. It’s national. When leaders like her stand up to cruelty with dignity, they show us what it takes to keep democracy alive.
Because here’s the truth: democracy doesn’t sustain itself. If we don’t fight for it—if we let healthcare, dignity, and truth itself become optional—it will collapse under the weight of those who value power over people.
That’s why this conversation matters. And that’s why I hope you’ll listen.
–Jaime
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