At a town hall event Monday night, freshman Rep. Scott Taylor (R-VA) faced a sometimes rowdy crowd of constituents confronting him about Republican plans to repeal Obamacare and white nationalist influences on President Donald Trump’s administration.
The event, held in a high school auditorium, reached capacity with 750 poeple packed inside, leaving a few hundred more standing outside during the town hall, according to local television station WAVY.
The congressman and those asking questions were periodically interrupted by shouting from other attendees, forcing the congressman to keep asking the crowd to remain orderly, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
“Come on guys. We all live here,” he said multiple times, asking attendees to let him and others speak, per the Virginian-Pilot.
Taylor acknowledged that the country is divided as he tried to address constituents’ concerns.
“I feel you. I get it. I’m living it every day,” he said, according to the newspaper. “This district has wonderful people who can rise above the divide.”
The congressman told the crowd that he supports Republicans’ plan to repeal Obamacare.
“The vast majority of people are getting crushed by Obamacare,” he said, according to WAVY. “What’s responsible I believe, is dissecting, having a discussion, and finding the best thing.”
An attendee also asked Taylor why he hasn’t publicly denounced White House adviser Steve Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News.
“How do you explain to your constituents of color that you support a President whose closest adviser has been proven to have ties to white nationalists?” Virginia Beach resident Kari Foster asked, according to the Virginian-Pilot.
Taylor replied that he does not believe Bannon should sit on the National Security Council principals committee, but said he did not want to stray into “personal attacks,” according to the newspaper.
After the town hall, Taylor spoke with Todd Zwillich for “The Takeway” radio program, who asked the congressman about the trend of packed town halls with Republican lawmakers across the country.
“We have chaos going on right now in the country, there’s no doubt about it. There’s a lot of division,” Taylor replied.
But he added that constituents’ interest and pointed questions is “not new,” arguing that people were just as concerned about health care as lawmakers were set to pass the Affordable Care Act.
“I think everybody should calm down,” Taylor said.
Watch video from the town hall via local TV station WVEC:
This post has been updated.
The Rep gets credit for holding the town-hall and facing his constituents. Most are refusing to do this.
Remaining polite and orderly is important. Let him/her speak even if you don’t like the answer. It’s too easy for Republicans to dismiss rowdy crowds as provocateurs unrepresentative of their constituents as a whole.
But crowds have the right to demand their questions be answered and members to explain themselves. For instance, who exactly is getting ‘crushed’ and in what way are they getting ‘crushed’ by the ACA? Members who shout platitudes and talking points at a crowd and flee out the back door get what they deserve.,
A blast from TPM’s past!
"The memo, authored by Robert MacGuffie, who runs the website rightprinciples.com, suggests that tea partiers should “pack the hall… spread out” to make their numbers seem more significant, and to “rock-the-boat early in the Rep’s presentation…to yell out and challenge the Rep’s statements early… to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda…stand up and shout and sit right back down.”
Trump: I have been POTUS for over a month and yet Democrats have not replaced ObamaCare. SAD!
Like both my senators and my rep. Chickenshits.