Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) faced a raucous crowd at a town hall in Aurora, Colorado, on Wednesday night, where constituents grilled him on his support for the House bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
Coffman spoke to the crowd for about two hours, with health care as the main topic on voters’ minds. The Republican congressman was sometimes confronted with jeers and shouting, according to the Denver Post.
“I’m sorry to say I was shocked when you declared your intention to vote for the American Health Care Act,” one attendee, Steven Haas, told Coffman, according to Politico. “That is not the way we do things here in Colorado.”
Another audience member expressed concern that Republicans would push a bill that eliminated protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
“Are you going to side with Trump or are you going to … stand with your constituents?” the audience member asked, according to CNN.
“I don’t think that’s right. Somehow he thinks that the Democrats are going to come around if it implodes,” Coffman replied, per CNN. “I think we need to fix it. And we need to fix it now.”
Before the town hall started, Coffman told Politico that he supported the American Health Care Act as a good “starting point” and said it would be “tough” for him to back legislation that reduced protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.
Toward the end of the town hall, Coffman called for the resignation of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who recently incorrectly stated that Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons.
“Spicer made a terrible mistake yesterday,” Coffman said, per CNN. “He needs to go.”
The Republican lawmaker was also pressed about support for President Donald Trump, with constituents criticizing him for not representing their interests.
“When the majority of your constituents’ input to you strongly disagrees with the Republican party position on notable issues, what will it take for you to vote with your constituents?” one attendee asked, according to 9 News.
“I think I’ve won a few elections around here. So I think majority of the people in this district believe that I’m representing them,” Coffman answered, per 9 News.
He told the crowd at one point that he will only speak out against Trump when it is “something significant.”
“The people, Republicans, when Obama was President, everything was ‘What are you doing to stand up to the President? what are you doing?’ Every time the President does something, ‘Why aren’t you speaking out against the President?’ Now I’m getting the same thing from the left,” Coffman said, according to 9 News. “When I disagree with the president, I will speak out with the President. I’m not going to do it every other day. It’s when there is something significant.”
