Iowa Republican rails at 'fake town halls' as she avoids meeting angry constituents

Iowa Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks called the citizen-led town hall meetings in her district "fake," said a Monday report.

Radio Iowa said that Miller-Meeks, who represents the First District of Iowa, appears to be listening to GOP leadership suggestions that members not attend in-person district town halls.

Last month, Politico reported that the chair of the House GOP’s campaign organization, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), told members to lay low given the angry town halls, protests and general dissatisfaction from some voters. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said separately that members should hold tele-town halls instead, NBC News reported in March. A call-in town hall meeting often allows members to mute the phone lines of anyone on the call.

Constituents in Iowa held a "people's town hall" after Miller-Meeks and other Iowa leaders refused to hold public events.

A report last week by The Daily Iowan noted that Iowa City residents held a protest complaining about Miller-Meeks' absence at local events.

"Dubbed the 'Stand Up for Your Constituents' rally, the event was co-hosted by labor unions, the American Federation of Government Employees and Iowa City Federation of Labor," the report said.

“You know you’re over the target when they’re in your district and they are protesting and they’re doing fake town halls and they’re sending money in,” Miller-Meeks said this weekend, according to Iowa Radio. “…You know you’re going where God wants you to go and we’re going to keep going and keep charging until David slays another Goliath and that is the behemoth of the federal government that is taking away our rights and liberties.”

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Last week, Miller-Meeks responded to the uprising by talking about former President Joe Biden.

“When we’ve heard people say that there are threats to our democracy, and you see people out being able to protest, being able to contest what they think that their government is doing, I think that shows you much more willingness than what I saw under the Biden administration,” Miller-Meeks said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “I’m glad to see that the democratic process is alive and well.”

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee went on the attack last week. They wrote that Miller-Meeks not only did not attend the "people's town hall," but she also missed some key votes on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would help Iowa’s farmers.

She was in Washington, the DCCC said, "because she voted on separate bills."

“Mariannette Miller-Meeks will do whatever it takes to greenlight the Trump-Musk agenda in Congress – even if that means bowing out from a vote that would have given Iowa’s farmers much needed relief – especially as Trump’s tariffs hurt their bottom line," said DCCC spokesperson Justin Chermol.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) thinks that Miller-Meeks' district could be winnable in 2026, The Iowa Starting Line also reported.

“In a conservative part of a swing Iowa district currently represented by Representative Miller-Meeks — one of the most unpopular Congress members in the country…— in the state Senate district that Donald Trump had won in November of 2024, the Democrat won,” Jeffries said Wednesday, while speaking about the economy.

Read the report here.