Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who was booed along with Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) at a forum in Philadelphia this weekend, said today that it seems the protests are part of a “nationally driven campaign.”
Sebelius said the protesters in Philly were “similar folks” with “very similar statements and very similar arguments” to protesters who came to a town hall held in Reserve, La., July 20. What was different this weekend, she said, was that the audience started booing as soon as they were welcomed by the director of Constitution Hall.
“What was clear at the outset was some folks intended to just disrupt the entire meeting and yell or shout or jeer over any kind of conversation,” she told Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC.
But, she said, most of the people at the meeting wanted to have a civil discussion.
“I think the supporters of health reform and people who had honest questions and real concerns…persuaded the disruptive element of the audience to allow the conversation to go on,” she said.
“The majority of people who were there in Constitution Hall, who were with us in Reserve, La., actually wanted to have a dialogue, wanted to get information,” she said.
