House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was ridiculed by one of his Democratic colleagues on Thursday for going on CNN Wednesday night and telling host Kaitlan Collins that angry voters appearing at town halls have been Democratic activists.
That led Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) to openly scoff during an appearance on MSNBC after host Ana Cabrera shared a clip of Johnson pushing back at Collins and telling her furious town hall attendees were "paid protesters in many of those places. These are Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats."
Asked for comment, Houlahan bluntly stated, "That's enormously paranoid."
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"I think that the reality is –– listen, I just had a town hall. We had 700 seats filled. We had hundreds, I estimated about 5 or 600 who were turned away and they were all very concerned," she added. "And I live in a purple community of roughly 40 percent Dems, 40 percent Republicans and 20 percent independents and people are anxious and they are worried."
"And listen, that's their job," she said of GOP lawmakers. "Their job is to have these town halls and to listen to the feelings and concerns of their community and the idea that somehow these are plants is ridiculous."
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