(NewsNation) — A viral video posted online appears to show Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., telling a fired federal worker that he “probably deserved it” because he seems “like a clown.”
The video — posted by several large social media accounts and viewed over 1 million times — began making the rounds Tuesday afternoon. The 26-second clip appears to show Banks walking through a building corridor before getting onto an elevator with several staffers.
‘Because you seem like a clown’
The person filming the interaction — Mack Schroeder — follows Banks as he walks by and says he was among the more than 30,000 federal employees recently laid off or fired by Elon Musk’s DOGE. He claims he was fired “illegally” from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
“Hi, I was a worker at HHS and I was fired, uh, illegally on Feb. 14,” Schroeder says as the video begins. “There are many people who are not getting Social Service programs, especially people with disabilities.”
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Schroeder then asks Banks what his plan is.
“Are you going to do anything to stop what’s happening?” he says.
Banks then leans around another person in the elevator and looks toward the camera for his response.
“You probably deserved it,” Banks says.
“I deserved it?” Schroeder asks.
“You probably deserved it,” Banks repeats.
“I deserved it? Wow. Yeah, that’s great to hear,” Schroeder says.
Schroeder then asks why Banks feels he deserved to be fired.
“Because you seem like a clown,” Banks says.
As Banks finishes his sentence, the elevator doors close. A bystander then remarks that Banks “shouldn’t have said that on camera.”
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Aftermath, reactions
The video has since been shared by large social media accounts and garnered millions of views, although it is unclear where it was originally posted or who published it.
Accounts for political commentator/filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, former NFL player Antonio Brown and nonprofit People for the American Way have shared the video, garnering mixed reactions.
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“That is not how U.S. Senators should talk to civil servants,” one X user wrote. “That is egregious.”
“LMAO! Who knew Senator Jim Banks was so funny,” another posted.
Banks has since shared several posts on his official X account addressing the video, including saying the video was a “hard truth” and changing his profile picture to a screenshot from the clip.
The senator even replied to Brown — the former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver who named Banks as his “Cracker of the Day.”
“Thanks, AB,” Banks replied. “I’m honored!”
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In a statement sent Tuesday to NewsNation affiliate WXIN/WTTV, Banks doubled down on the sentiments he appeared to share in the video, but did not directly address the clip.
“I went to Washington to decrease the size and scope of the federal government. No one is entitled to a taxpayer-funded job, especially in positions that waste those funds. I fully support President Trump and DOGE’s mission to eliminate waste.”
During an interview with WXIN/WTTV Tuesday night, Mack Schroeder said he was hired at HHS as a budget analyst in October of 2024. He worked on legislation for the Administration for Community Living, which is responsible for providing programs to individuals with disabilities and older adults.
“In February, on Valentine’s Day, actually, I received a notice that I would be terminated after a month and put on administrative leave in the meantime,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder confirmed the video was taken Tuesday morning as he and other federal workers have continued to meet and try to convince various politicians about the importance of their work.
“‘I’ve been going to [Capitol Hill] with a group of other fired federal workers from all different agencies, a lot from USAID, a lot of other workers from HHS, CDC, NIH as well as folks from the Social Security Administration,” Schroeder said. “I really ran the gamut of anyone who has been impacted by these cuts. We have been doing that for a little over a month now.”
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Schroeder said he and others will typically schedule meetings with politicians to discuss why it is important that they return to work as soon as possible to continue providing their respective services.
“A lot of times, we will also catch senators in the hallway and take that as an opportunity to talk to them about the work we’ve done, show them a little bit of our story and see how they are really going to commit to standing up to what is happening with DOGE and firing all of these workers who didn’t have performance issues, who were really just doing the work that they sought out to do by being a public servant,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder said he hoped Banks would “care more about his constituents” and that he was “taken aback” by what Banks said Tuesday morning in the nation’s capital.
“Just to hear when I was saying that I work on programs for people with disabilities, and the only response he had to say was, ‘You seem like a clown,'” Schroeder said.
“It just really surprised me and took me aback because I know there are going to be a lot of people in the state of Indiana who are losing services as of today with these huge cuts to HHS. I would hope that he would care more about his constituents to have concerns about a lot of these programs changing.”
