Following a wave of humiliating viral videos capturing congressional Republicans being berated by their own outraged constituents at town halls nationwide, GOP lawmakers are now being told to stop holding such events altogether.
Last month, U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA) "tried asking for unity at his 'community coffee' event," but "his audience had screamed, cussed and called him a Nazi," The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. "The crowd was furious that Obernolte had defended the Trump administration’s mass firings of federal workers. They yelled when he said he was glad billionaire Elon Musk, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was 'looking at all of the waste' in the federal budget."
"And in reference to Trump, they shouted: 'No king! No king! No king!'"
This week, President Donald Trump, without providing any proof or evidence, claimed that voters caught on camera confronting their elected representatives at town halls—largely in outrage over the mass termination of tens of thousands of government employees and the cancellation of critical, life-saving programs, under the eye of Musk and his DOGE team—were actually "paid" operatives and suggested they were Democratic shills. His allegation has been swiftly echoed by numerous Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson and their MAGA supporters.
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On Tuesday, in a closed-door meeting among House Republicans, U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), "very dramatically told members to put down their phones and listen," reported The Wall Street Journal's Olivia Beavers.
"He said no one should be doing town halls. Likened it to 2017, [he] said the protests at town halls and district offices are going to get even worse. Another congresswoman got up and complained that they’ve been picketing at her house and targeting her kid, this source says." Beavers noted that Hudson meant in-person town halls.
Democratic House Judiciary Committee chief counsel Joshua Breisblatt went even further: "this has hardcore 2010 vibes..." he remarked, appearing to refer to the Tea Party's anti-Obamacare town halls.
Punchbowl News co-founder Jake Sherman added that Congressman Hudson, who is also the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), "told Republicans they should be doing tele town halls instead of in person town halls. He said it is a more efficient way to reach constituents. And he said Dems will send someone to an in-person event to get a viral clip."
Hudson "said Democratic activists are hijacking town halls to organize, drowning out constituents with real issues. He said virtual events could reach thousands of constituents."
That claim targeting Democrats does not appear to align with numerous viral videos with millions of views on social media platforms, like this one, which has been viewed nearly 5 million times on just one social media platform in just three days:
Sherman also reported that it was U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-C) who "said that people are harassing her children at her house."
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"Hudson said the paid resistance people are out there like in 2017,” The Daily Beast's Juliegrace Brufke added.
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) responded to the 2017 comment: "Republicans think pissed off voters showing up at their town halls are 'paid resistance.' Did the 'paid resistance' cause them to lose 41 seats in the House the next year, too?"
The Bulwark's Sam Stein reported that some House Democrats said if Republicans won't do in-person town halls, they will hold them — in Republican districts.
Bipartisan criticism came swiftly.
"If you don't have the courage to face your constituents - the majority of whom just voted for you - you certainly don't have the courage to stand up for your country," charged U.S. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL). "Cowardice is the opposite of leadership. And it's all the @GOP has."
Five term Republican former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash blasted his former colleagues: "If you can’t handle contentious town hall meetings, then you shouldn’t be in Congress. Who cares if a questioner has an agenda? An honest legislator doesn’t fear these exchanges. They always represent an opportunity to persuade constituents, even if you can’t sway the questioner."
Although not a member of Congress, Minnesota Democratic Governor Tim Walz, the former vice presidential nominee, offered to hold town halls himself.
"If your Republican representative won’t meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will. Hell, maybe I will. If your congressman refuses to meet, I’ll come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat ‘em," he vowed.
Vox senior politics correspondent Andrew Prokop remarked, "House GOP advised to hide from their constituents rather than try to publicly defend the Trump/Musk agenda."
Town halls are a rich tradition in America, as University of Texas political science professor Mark Hand wrote in 2023:
"The first town halls in America were mini governments, not Q&A sessions—and we don’t really know where they came from. Today, when a representative goes back to their district, it’s mostly listening and responding carefully to constituent concerns. But the first town hall meetings in Massachusetts in the 1630s were experiments in community-level direct democracy, a tradition that continues today in some Massachusetts towns," he wrote.
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