Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, on Wednesday night faced a rowdy crowd in Meridian, Idaho, where he was pummeled with questions about health care and President Donald Trump.
The congressman was at times met with jeers and chants of “Do your job,” as well as with cheers and applause, according to the Spokesman-Review. He originally planned for a 90-minute event, but spoke with the 800 constituents packed into a middle school auditorium for about three hours, according to the Idaho Statesman.
“I actually like it – I’m used to getting booed. I get it at home all the time,” Labrador said at one point, per the Spokesman-Review.
He was confronted with questions about Trump, specifically whether the President Donald Trump should release his tax returns.
“I don’t think that there’s anything in the law that requires the president to provide his tax returns. There’s nothing in the law,” Labrador said to boos and some applause, according to the Spokesman-Review.
Though he would not call on Trump to release his tax returns, Labrador did tell the crowd that the President’s time spent at Mar-A-Lago presents costs and transparency issues, according to the Idaho Statesman.
Labrador was also grilled on the House Republicans’ failed Obamacare repeal bill, which the Freedom Caucus refused to support. He defended his decision to oppose the legislation.
“I don’t believe that health care should be provided by the government,” Labrador said, according to the Idaho Press-Tribune. “But I do believe that people should have access to health care.”
He was met with boos from the crowd.
.@Raul_Labrador : I do not believe that healthcare is a basic human right." Reaction: pic.twitter.com/5Senq8DLev
— Bill Dentzer (@dentzernews) April 20, 2017
In response, one audience member told Labrador, “You seem very concerned about the well-being of children before they’re born, but I wonder what happens to that compassion going forward, in terms of the positive changes you could make in the areas of health care, education and parental leave,” per the Press-Tribune.
