Gabby Giffords To Lawmakers: ‘Have Some Courage’ And Hold Town Halls

Former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords campaigns for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the base of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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Former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), who survived an assassination attempt at a 2011 public event, told lawmakers who are avoiding their constituents to “have some courage” and hold town halls.

“I was shot on a Saturday morning. By Monday morning my offices were open to the public,” Giffords said in a statement Thursday. “Ron Barber — at my side that Saturday, who was shot multiple times, then elected to Congress in my stead — held town halls. It’s what the people deserve in a representative.”

She called on lawmakers who are “refusing to hold town halls” to make themselves available to their constituents.

“To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage,” Giffords said. “Face your constituents. Hold town halls.”

Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 while meeting with constituents outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. She was critically wounded but survived. Six other people, including a federal judge, died during the shooting.

Constituents and protesters have gathered at public events and outside local appearances by Republican lawmakers during the congressional recess to voice concerns about President Donald Trump and his plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Wednesday blamed the wave of angry protests partly on a “professional protester manufactured base.”

Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Thursday that protesters should come up with their “own solutions” to policy changes that concern them.

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