Republican mercilessly booed while trying to defend Trump

Sarah K. Burris
6h

U.S. Congressman Mike Lawler (R-NY) speaks as he attends a town hall meeting in Mahopac, New York, U.S., June 8, 2025. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) had a tough town hall meeting on Sunday night.

Lawler is in one of the toughest districts in the country, where he may have won the election, but President Donald Trump didn't win the district in 2024. It means that the congressman is likely to face a headwind as he fights to retain his seat, the Daily Beast said, citing local reports.

The event was at Mahopac High School, where at least one person was removed from the town hall after saying that Lawler was "spineless."

It isn't the first time Lawler has had critics removed from a town hall. In February, he said, security removed a group of veterans for interrupting. It happened at another point in May of 2025.

This time around, a person was removed for calling Lawler and other Republicans "spineless" for refusing to impeach the president.

This time around, Lawler decided that attacking the crowd was the better route.

"We’re in a high school auditorium, and high school students act a lot better than you are acting,” Lawler complained, The Journal News reported. “Actually, act like an adult, and stop.”

This is his third town hall in 2026 and each one has been this contentious.

This one focused on the Iran war, which Trump started at the end of February. Lawler voted against the war powers resolution, demanding that Trump stop the war until Congress votes to approve it.

According to Lawler, "Congress has not declared war since World War II."

"Is that good?" shouted an audience member.

Lawler parroted the White House talking point that the U.S. had to do whatever it would take to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. The problem, however, is that the White House said last summer they'd achieved that already with its bombing campaign.

"You say that when you disagree with Trump, you will tell him so, but that's not enough," one man said to loud cheers. "You must impeach. He's a fraud, he's corrupt, he's an incompetent psychopath. The Republican Party and you are enabling him. You're all cowards, and you're spineless."

"If you actually want to build consensus, you have to work across the aisle," Lawler said. "It means you have to actually engage with people who disagree with you. I do it every day. My best friend in Congress is a Democrat."

"I work with Democrats every single day in Congress to address issues," he added. "But if you guys are unwilling to actually engage with the other side, if you're unwilling to engage with the administration, you're never going to get anywhere. That's the reality."

The New York Times' congressional correspondent, Robert Jimison, posted a video on X of a man being thrown out of the event while shouting that the GOP was "morally bankrupt."

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