By Ava Slocum | One hundred days into Donald Trump’s presidency, the president has the lowest 100-day job approval rating of any president in the past 80 years—and Republican elected officials are getting nervous. Trump’s tariffs are stoking trade wars and price hikes, making recession more and more likely; the price of eggs has never been higher; and the horrors of illegal arrests and mass deportations have made even the most enthusiastic Trump supporters, including Joe Rogan, wary.
As voters in all 50 states feel the effects of federal layoffs, rising prices and cuts to social services—and a far-right agenda that no one voted for—clips of constituents confronting their Republican representatives at rowdy town halls are going viral: Police used a stun gun on two people at a town hall hosted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), while Rep. Mike Lawler (N.Y.) faced boos at one he hosted on April 27.
In response, the National Republican Congressional Committee, chaired by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), has advised Republicans in Congress to stop holding in-person town halls with constituents to avoid angry constituents and bad press. (Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson have also claimed the hecklers are professional protesters Democrats are hiring, but there’s no evidence to suggest this.) Democrats have been holding town halls in Republican districts where the representative is conspicuously absent. Sens. Chris Murphy (Conn.) and Cory Booker (N.J.) and Reps. Greg Stanton (Ariz.), Greg Casar (Texas) and Maxwell Frost (Fla.) are among the Democrats who have hosted more than 70 “People’s Town Halls” in red districts across 35 states over the past few weeks. (Click here to read more) |
