Donald Trump spread a conspiracy theory about the blowback Republican lawmakers are facing back home over Elon Musk's job cuts.
GOP members of Congress have been confronted by angry constituents at town hall meetings across the country, including ruby-red districts from Georgia to Missouri, which House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and now the president have dismissed as political stunts pulled off by Democratic plants.
"Paid 'troublemakers' are attending Republican Town Hall Meetings," Trump posted Monday morning on Truth Social. "It is all part of the game for the Democrats, but just like our big LANDSLIDE ELECTION, it’s not going to work for them!"
Voters have been demanding answers about mass layoffs and canceled federal contracts led by Musk and his U.S. DOGE Service, but GOP leadership waved off those concerns as the result of Democratic dirty tricks while at the same time urging members to avoid in-person events with their constituents.
“The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places," Johnson told CNN last week. "These are Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats. This is an old playbook that they pulled out and ran, and it made it look like that what is happening in Washington is unpopular. But I’m going to tell you, the American people are behind what’s happening.”
The progressive groups MoveOn.org and Indivisible have organized protests against Musk and DOGE in swing districts, but town hall attendees who have confronted GOP lawmakers have identified themselves as Republicans, in addition to others who identified themselves as Democrats.