Town hall erupts in chaos as red district Republican faces angry Trump voters

Rep. Mike Flood (R-Nebraska) outside the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska on January 27, 2024 (Matt Johnson/Right Cheer/Flickr)

Nebraska has long been known as a GOP stronghold. Donald Trump won Nebraska by roughly 21 percent in 2024, and the last Democrat to carry Nebraska in a presidential election was Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. But according to NOTUS reporter Torrence Banks, Rep. Mike Flood (R-Nebraska) is witnessing major frustration with President Trump's policies in Nebraska's "ruby red" 1st Congressional District.

Flood, who is seeking reelection, held a townhall in his district on Tuesday night. The GOP congressman, Banks notes, was "jeered" by attendees — and it marked his "second contentious encounter with constituents within the past year."

"Flood was asked to defend his party's stances on a number of issues, from Medicaid to the Iran war," Banks explains in NOTUS. "Many attendees were unhappy with the state of the American economy in Trump's second term — and let Flood know."

At a previous town hall, Banks points out, Flood faced "booing, jeering and even interrupting" — and the "environment was similar this time around," according to the NOTUS reporter.

"As the conflict in Iran has continued, prices for a litany of consumer goods — gas and airplane tickets especially — have skyrocketed," Banks writes. "The audience (on Tuesday night) applauded a woman after she told Flood that the war was 'making everything unaffordable'…. Flood stood by Trump's decision, earlier this year, to launch the war and his party's oversight actions…. Warren Reimer, a man who Flood said he has known since high school, accused him of being bitten 'by the Beltway bug' and of supporting Trump's stated goal of taking Greenland by force if necessary."

Banks adds, "Flood emphasized that he doesn't support a U.S. invasion of the semi-autonomous Danish territory and that he plans to meet with the country's ambassador on June 4."

Flood, according to Banks, tried to distance himself from the Trump Administration's "anti-weaponization fund" — telling attendees, "I do not think we should be creating a fund for people that commit physical violence against law enforcement. The Senate is opening an oversight effort. And we in the House have to determine whether we do the same in the Judiciary Committee or in the Oversight Committee. I clearly think Congress needs to have an oversight role in this before I can sign off or support this."

But Banks defended Trump's SAVE America Act, which critics say, will make it much harder to vote by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship other than a regular driver's license — for example, a U.S. passport or a birth certificate.

Banks told attendees, "Do you think illegal immigrants should vote in our elections? I don't think that a majority of Nebraskans agree with you."

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