Furious constituents flood Republican's tele-town hall: 'You are wasting time!'

Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) became the latest Republican lawmaker to face a barrage of anger from his constituents on Wednesday.

Unlike many of his colleagues, who held a physical town hall where disgruntled constituents lined up to yell at him, Wittman opted for a so-called "tele-town hall" on Facebook, where people could call in ahead of time to get their questions answered.

But almost from the get-go, the stream's comments section was flooded with angry messages from constituents who accused him of manipulating the format of the town hall to screen out unfriendly questions.

"I signed up (twice) and did not receive a call today. I am very disappointed," wrote Laura Sill Garlock. "Wow so you have pre-screened all of us who call you daily so you don't actually have a townhall," wrote Lynsey Miller.

"These calls must be pre screened. I guess that is why I didn’t get the promised call back," wrote Rita Mullaly Lysher," adding, "You are wasting time reading quotes instead of answering constituents questions this is only an hour."

The format wasn't the only complaint, however. Many others gave him an earful of criticisms for his stance on the federal government shutdown and health care cuts, slamming him for his support of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act that cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid — and didn't buy his efforts to blame Democrats for the shutdown, either.

"This isn't a clean bill, you all are perfectly fine bankrupting Americans over Healthcare and you're not even trying to negotiate with them," wrote Miller, adding of Trump's method of diverting money in the shutdown, "How he paid the military was illegal, it's a misappropriation of funds and you have put our service members (including my spouse) in an absolutely crappy position."

Wittman represents a district in Virginia spanning the suburbs of Richmond and the western shores of Chesapeake Bay. Long considered a Republican stronghold, portions of the district have been growing more competitive in recent years.