‘Hiding’: GOP lawmakers dodge ‘angry’ voters as anti-Trump backlash intensifies

With President Donald Trump almost two months into his second term, many GOP lawmakers continue to encounter angry voters at town hall events. The voters are expressing their frustration with Trump’s policies, from steep new tariffs to mass layoffs of federal workers. Trump’s MAGA allies are dismissing the voters as Democratic plants, but swing voters — including those who voted for Trump in 2024 — are among the people showing up and speaking out. And some of the town halls are taking place in very Republican congressional districts. In an article published on March 19, the Washington Post’s Hannah Knowles takes a look at GOP lawmakers who are now avoiding town hall events and dodging angry, frustrated voters.READ MORE: ‘A pile of lies’: How Fox helped pave the way for ‘the systematic destruction’ of America”Around the country,” Knowles explains, “a beleaguered Democratic resistance was stirring to life. Voters outraged at President Donald Trump and his empowerment of billionaire Elon Musk were holding protests and venting at their Republican representatives in Congress — packing into public listening sessions even in solidly red districts and causing such a stir that GOP leaders this month urged tele-town halls instead. Angry constituents and liberal groups such as Indivisible — founded after Trump’s first election in 2016 — have only been emboldened, seeing an opening for new activism and attacks that Republicans are ‘hiding.'”Knowles adds, “With House members back home in their districts this week, Democrats have organized their own town halls across the country while taunting top GOP targets.”One of the Republicans who is feeling the heat, according to Knowles, is Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin). In Van Orden’s district, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (who was 2024 Democratic presidential Kamala Harris’ running mate) held his own town hall event — and the group Opportunity Wisconsin paid for a billboard that reads, “Have you seen our congressman? Call and demand he hold a town hall.””Many Republican officials have blamed the town hall drama on paid protesters, without providing evidence that they were hired — the same accusation that some Democrats once levied at conservative Tea Party protesters during Barack Obama’s presidency,” Knowles observes. “Town halls tend to attract people with strong political opinions, including members of activist groups, but those attendees bristle at accusations that their constituent concerns aren’t genuine.”READ MORE: Revealed: Top lawyer warned Trump administration IRS firings were a ‘fraud’Read Hannah Knowles’ full Washington Post article at this link (subscription required).

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