'That was brutal': Wisconsin GOP lawmaker flounders at 'hostile' townhall

A recent town hall revealed public speaking engagements have gotten no less calm for Republican lawmakers since they passed President Donald Turmp Big Beautiful budget bill this year.

“I haven't seen a negative reaction like that since we ran those focus groups on your early hosting,” said ‘Morning Joe’ political analyst Sam Stein to show host Jonathan Lemire. “It was brutal.”

As Wisconsin Public Radio reports, U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) faced a "hostile" crowd that shouted him down Thursday evening during his first town hall gathering since the passage of the “Big Beautiful Bill Act.” Amid catcalls and complaints over the new budget, several attendees expressed disappointment with the congressman, including one person who asked why he was not stopping ICE raids by masked agents targeting Wisconsin residents.

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“Why are they wearing masks and why are they unidentified?” the audience member asked.

“We'll probably agree to disagree on some of my answer here but what I view is the moral hazard created by the Biden administration by allowing the U.S. border to remain unsecur—” Steil began.

At that point the Elkhorn High School auditorium erupted in a wash of boos as roughly 200 people, some carrying signs with slogans like “Resist,” “God is King no Others” and “Hands off SSI and Medicare” buried Steil in disapproval.

“It's completely fine that we disagree,” Steil told the crowd, looking shaken.

Morning Joe contributor Jen Palmieri said the scene was a positive for Democrats.

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“There's one of two things happening in that town hall,” said Palmieri. “Either it was organized. by Democrats, and that shows that Democrats in Wisconsin are organized, and that's positive news for Democrats, or it was not organized and that is organic anger—and that is also positive news for Democrats.”

Wisconsin news reports some supporters left early and called Steil’s presentation “disgusting,” while others said Steil “got what he deserved” for being a Trump rubber stamp. The town hall remained raucous as the audience overpowered the microphone. Steil paused frequently to urge the crowd to stay civil and allow him to answer questions.

“We are a long way from November 2026, but any Republican looking to hold on to his or her job then has to look at that last night and feel a little bit antsy,” said Lemire.

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“Here's the thing,” said Stein. “These Republicans have been instructed to not hold these town halls for a reason, because they're going to produce spectacles like that. The electorate, at least the electorate that is willing to get up and go to a physical town hall and express their opinions, is deeply angry with Republicans.”

Stein added that Trump’s numbers on many facets of immigration policy is underwater. “And if you combine that with the Big Beautiful bill, with Medicaid, with the possibility that there's going to be premium increases because of the Obamacare subsidies going away along with the issue of the cost of goods — that is a bad brew for Republicans,” Stein said.

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