At U.S. Senate lunch, Rand Paul aids Joni Ernst in choking emergency
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (file photo)
by Jennifer Shutt, Iowa Capital Dispatch
November 30, 2023
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst is doing okay after a fellow senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on the Iowa Republican when she choked on food during a closed-door GOP lunch Thursday.
“Can’t help but choke on the woke policies Dems are forcing down our throats. Thanks, Dr. @RandPaul!,” Ernst wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, quoting an earlier post from a Politico reporter about the incident.
Ernst’s office said later Thursday that she’s fine, but didn’t provide further details.
Paul became an ophthalmologist after graduating from Duke University with a medical degree in 1988.
South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters afterward that he appreciated Paul’s actions.
“God bless Rand Paul,” Graham said, according to a Washington Post reporter’s post on X. “I never thought I’d say that.”
Iowa Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, also an ophthalmologist, gave thanks on X for having fellow physicians in Congress.
Thank God we have doctors in Congress. So grateful that @SenRandPaul was able to intervene and that @SenJoniErnst is okay. https://t.co/O0kjeXiLkb
— Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, M.D. (@RepMMM) November 30, 2023
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