A Republican congressman from New Jersey said Friday that the attendees at a town hall he held Wednesday were concerned constituents, not paid protesters.
“Not to my knowledge. This is the 41st in-person town hall meeting I’ve held, and I’ve never experienced paid protesters, and I don’t think that was true the other night,” Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) told Fox News’ Shepard Smith, after Smith asked him if he thought attendees protesting him and President Trump at the town hall were paid.
“It’s important to reach out to constituents, to hear from them, and I think it’s important for my constituents to hear from me,” Lance said. “Perhaps a majority in the audience were not those who had voted for me previously. But I try to represent everybody, Shep. Not only Republicans and independents but Democrats as well.”
WNYC reported Thursday that Lance was the only Republican in New Jersey to hold a town hall this week.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in early February that “protesting has become a profession now.” Responding Wednesday morning to rowdy town hall events around the country, Spicer blamed the commotion on a “professional protester manufactured base.”
President Trump has said angry constituents are organized by “liberal activists.”
The so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2017
And Jim DeMint, the former South Carolina senator and current president of the Heritage Foundation, said Tuesday that protesters were being “bused around” by “well-financed” interests.
Must be the same people on the buses that went to New Hampshire from Massachusetts to vote illegally.
You know, this guy makes a good point:
If one were doing a good job of representing a constituency, one would recognize at least a few of the folks. Like the ones that show up at his office for help. Like the ones that have asked for assistance with a federal program or getting a kid into a military academy.
How can you represent an entire district where you know or recognize absolutely no one in a crowd of several hundred?
Maybe I have this all wrong, but it is telling that some of these guys can’t pick out anyone they know from their own district in a crowd.
Trump: This congressman is not of Russian descent and therefore not a patriot. I dont have to listen to him.
Prepare for an orange tweetstorm. You have spoken against Hair Furor by telling the truth.
That’s strictly verboten in today’s GOP.
Might be a low bar to cross but it’s nice to see a Republican Congresscritter with a lick of integrity and concern for his constituents.