Yet another town hall on behalf of GOP lawmakers was taken over Friday by protestors who demanded answers about the Republicans’ plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and vented their anger at the Trump administration.
Hundreds of protesters attended a “constituent service day” with aides to Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), railing against the lawmakers and erupting into chants of “shame!”, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The lawmakers themselves were not present at the “mobile office hours” event, designed as a meeting with the lawmakers’ aides in an east Georgia town so that constituents didn’t have to travel all the way to Atlanta to have their voices heard. The aides appeared overwhelmed by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Aides at first walked out of the room as protestors chanted “shame!”, but then returned and one aide began to jot down complaints as residents spoke up, according to the report.
“I’ve never called my Congressman – ever – until four or five weeks ago,” Ron Denham told the publication. “These people need to represent us and our voice needs to get louder and louder and louder.”
A truce emerges. This @CongressmanHice aide returns to listen, but not answer, questions from Trump critics. https://t.co/xjCX78rR2A #gapol pic.twitter.com/2EfcR0Pgvb
— Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) February 10, 2017
The protestors and concerned citizens who’ve flooding town halls, including a Thursday event for Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) that drew thousands, are often characterized as Democrats. But one person who attended the Georgia event told the Journal-Constitution that isn’t always the case.
“It’s not just progressives and liberals. Because I’m not one,” said Heidi Morton. “There are a lot of conservatives and Republicans that can’t stand Trump. And Republican politicians need to know their constituents are out here.”
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