'It's a disgrace': Raphael Warnock slams Donald Trump over health care cuts, Middle East conflict

In a fresh criticism of President Donald Trump, Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock claimed that the Trump administration was forcing hospitals to close, "kicking people off their insurance," and damaging the country's food security. "All while launching yet another war in the Middle East. It's a disgrace," he wrote in a post on X. A staunch critic of the President, the Democratic senator from Chicago has voiced his strong opposition to Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran, from the day it started, and has often accused the Trump administration of making "life more expensive" for U.S. citizens.

Before the launch of Operation Epic Fury on February 28, Rev. Warnock had, on several occasions, criticized Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) and the ongoing funding impasse on rural health care in Georgia. In his recent social media post, he reignited the criticism and coupled it with the rise in gas prices. Last month, Warnock had pointed to the struggle of Evans Memorial Hospital in South Georgia, which is facing due to the "GOP tax law", his office had said in a press release. 

In a separate tweet last week, Warnock had called the current state of affairs a result of failed leadership, contrasting it with President Trump's "golden age" statement. "Prices are up. We're at war. Millions have lost health care. And now, people are losing their jobs," he had written. On March 11, gas prices hovered around the $3.50 a gallon mark, considerably higher than what the President had touted during his State of the Union address. 

The White House has, however, assured that the price rises are temporary. On Tuesday, White Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Operation Epic Fury had been a "resounding success" and indicated that the U.S. operation is heading towards an end. "The recent increase in oil and gas prices is temporary, and this operation will result in lower gas prices in the long term," she said. President Trump, too, has said that the Iran conflict will "end soon."

In a recent telephonic conversation with Axios, Trump said that he could end the war any time he wants and that there's "nothing left to target" in Iran. However, he indicated that he will not allow Iran to "get off that easy."  Meanwhile, the 32 countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) have agreed to make 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves available to the market, the largest release in IEA history.