'Tell him to go to hell': GOP senator enrages snubbed town hall attendees with donut offer

Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) sparked a round of criticism in his home district after he skipped a town hall and instead sent a staffer to deliver donuts – a stunt which further generated backlash when the MAGA lawmaker posted a video seeming to mock the snubbed attendees.

And Banks doubled down on social media.

“Who doesn’t like free donuts?? Apparently Democrats don’t,” he wrote Monday on his official X account.

Banks said Saturday that the group who invited him to the town hall, which he called “the ‘indivisible’ Democrat anti-Trump/Banks group,” seemed “REALLY angry so I sent my favorite donuts hoping to lighten the mood. You won’t want to miss what happened next!”

What unfolded as the donuts entered the town hall without the senator was reminiscent of chaotic scenes occurring at town halls across the country as tensions over Israel and Palestine – as well as DOGE-led cuts – continue to stoke anger across the country.

“Why isn’t he here?” one attendee demanded to know in the video, which featured carnival-themed music in the background.

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“He’s sorry he can’t make it, so he wanted to send these in his place,” the staffer responded as he laid out multiple boxes of donuts “courtesy of Sen. Jim Banks.”

“Oh Jesus, well tell him to go to hell,” a man told him as he grabbed a plate and pastry.

The donut drop triggered a woman in the audience to ask, “Are you really from Jim Banks’ office? I would like him to listen to me. I have called him, I have written him. He never listens to a thing.”

The staffer replied, “Do you want a chocolate one?”

“No!” she responded.

The attendees appeared to grow angrier as the donut stunt played out, with Banks' staffer besieged by constituents while he walked around with donuts. “We’ve got a lot of extra donuts, please,” he said.

“Guess what? We’re done voting for you too!” one attendee is heard yelling in the video. “He should be here!” another one decried. “He is using our money to buy stupid donuts!” yet another one yelled out.

Watch the clip below or at this link: