Democrats 'piling on' as Republicans 'hiding from voters' who want town halls
Democrats are calling out Republican lawmakers for shutting down constituent town halls that have gotten too hot for them to handle.
GOP lawmakers who have met with angry constituents recently include reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Keith Self (R-TX) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). Many of the lawmakers have struggled to answer pointed constituent questions about President Donald Trump and his lieutenant Elon Musk, leading to boos and jeers from the crowd.
Trump himself has discounted the complaints as coming from "paid troublemakers," and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) agreed: "There are people who do this as a profession, they're professional protesters," he said.
The Republicans' solution to their constituents' complaints? No more in-person town halls.
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According to Politico, "The chair of the House GOP's campaign arm told Republican lawmakers Tuesday to stop holding in-person town halls amid a wave of angry backlash over the cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump's administration. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the NRCC chair, delivered the message inside a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private remarks."
Congressional Democrats immediately pounced on the new directive.
Rep. Theresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) accused the GOP of being "afraid of their constituents," while a House Democratic super PAC spokesperson said, "If you're going to have the audacity to raise prices and rip away health care from millions of Americans, you should at least have the courage to face your constituents," Politico reported.
Max Cohen with Punchbowl News quoted Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton on X: "So House Republicans’ political strategy is ‘see no families nor workers,’ ‘hear no protesters’, ‘speak to no one’ and hope everyone gets less angry at them when they rip away Americans’ health care? Got it.”
Cohen also quoted Democratic spokesperson Emma Weir: "Plain and simple: Republicans are hiding from the voters who elected them because they’re breaking their promises... It’s time they take responsibility for their dangerous actions.”