'Desperately need these services': Conservative mom blames GOP for cutting son’s Medicaid

MSNBC host Katy Tur and North Carolina resident Rachel Roth-Aldhizer on MSNBC on August 25, 2025

A self-described "proud conservative" from the South is worried that her disabled son may lose the services he needs to survive, and she's laying blame at the feet of President Donald Trump and Republicans in her home state.

In a Monday interview with MSNBC host Katy Tur, Rachel Roth-Aldhizer — a registered Republican from North Carolina — said Republicans' Medicaid cuts could mean her severely disabled four year-old son loses critical support. She explained that because her son has "life-threatening congenital abnormalities," he requires around-the-clock care.

In a New York Times op-ed, Roth-Aldhizer wrote that because of her son's conditions, he qualifies for institutional-level care. However, Medicaid made it possible for David to get care at home thanks to community and home-based service waivers. But following the passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" and its $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over the next decade, that could be taken away.

"On the ground in North Carolina, what's happening right now is that our Republican-held state legislature is voluntarily reducing our Medicaid budget by $319 million, because state medicaid programs operate on a matching basis. That means the real reduction there is around $1 billion." she told Tur. "Families like mine are scared. We're worried. We're concerned. How are we going to be able to care for our children? They desperately need these services."

Roth-Aldhizer further pointed out that David is just one of 3,700 children in North Carolina alone in a similar predicament, and that there are thousands of other children with severe disabilities across the country who also count on Medicaid to be able to get home-based care from loved ones, rather than being confined to an institution. When Tur asked Roth-Aldhizer if she wanted to convey a message to Trump, she insisted that her son "is not a Republican or a Democrat."

"He's just an American citizen who's extremely vulnerable. He needs the support of each of our dollars. A little bit of that dollar going to support his life," she said. "Medicaid makes David's life possible. I'm extremely grateful to the Medicaid program that David's enrolled in for allowing his quality of life to be what it is, and for him to be at home in our family where he belongs."

"David's life has immense worth and value, and when a portion of your dollar goes to supporting children like David, you're participating in charity," she added.

Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.