Ohio Republican says Big Beautiful Bill is a ‘win,’ but it doesn’t cut social programs enough

During an interview on “The Scott Sands Show,” Ohio Republican congressional candidate Kevin Coughlin praised President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful, Bill” as a “win,” but lamented that the legislation won’t cut social programs even more.

The bill, which was written by Republicans passed in the House of Representatives on party lines last month, is currently being amended in the U.S. Senate. If it were signed into law under the version passed by the House, it will kick a projected 10 million people off their health insurance over the next decade because of cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

During his interview, Coughlin implied that these cuts are not enough but that lawmakers should “take the win” so they can seek another opportunity in the future.

“It’s not, it’s not everything that you want, it’s not the win that everyone wants, but it is a win,” Coughlin said. “And then there will be an opportunity to get another opportunity to get another win down the road. So I would say to my friends in D.C.: take the win, take the win and move on.”

Coughlin is running for Ohio’s 13^th Congressional District seat against incumbent Rep. Emilia Sykes (D). Sykes defeated Coughlin by 2.2% (8,542 votes) last November.

During his previous campaign, Coughlin was a vocal opponent of social programs. Last June, he advocated for privatizing Social Security, raising the retirement age and converting Medicare to a voucher program, the latter of which would likely raise out-of-pocket costs for health care.

During a candidate forum last year, Coughlin also said reforming social programs is a necessity and that “anyone with eyes” wants to cut Social Security.