Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has recently confirmed that 300,000 residents could lose access to Medicaid due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Her announcement sparked mixed reactions online, and fake news quickly started to spread, claiming that she acknowledged that Virginia currently has 300,000 illegal immigrants.
The misinformation was amplified by prominent right-wing political pundits such as Eric Daugherty. In his X post, Daugherty accused Spanberger of “admitting to what we knew all along,” as “President Trump’s ban on noncitizens and illegals getting Medicaid — plus anti-fraud measures” could make 300,000 people lose access to Medicaid in the state.
While Daugherty never literally says that these 300,000 people are illegal immigrants, many other accounts did, fueling the fake news. However, Spanberger never said that 300,000 people would be automatically kicked off the service, nor that they are immigrants.
In fact, the bill introduces several new requirements for receiving Medicaid, including stricter work requirements for citizens and more paperwork during eligibility checks. Additionally, the federal government made hefty cuts to the Medicaid budget, and Virginia may need to spend more to maintain coverage.
Internet Reacts to Fake News About Virginia Governor
Due to the widespread misunderstanding about who the 300,000 people cited by Spanberger actually are, the Virginia governor received negative comments online. One user wrote: “That’s an awful lot of illegals taking from your state. Why wouldn’t you be more concerned about that?” Someone else said: “Here is an idea: you want to provide coverage for illegals in your state, have the citizens of your state pay for it. Medicaid is a safety net for our American citizens.”
Others defended cutting Medicaid for these alleged immigrants: “Since they never earned or deserved it, I don’t see an issue.” Similarly, others said: “It’s about time. Our social welfare system is literally driving us to bankruptcy. The least we can do is take people out of it that shouldn’t be in it.”
At the moment, it’s unclear how many illegal immigrants may be affected by Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill in Virginia, and it’s possible that the number will never be made public.
