Red-state Republican gets mercilessly jeered at town hall

Members of the U.S. House are back home for the entire month of August—a time meant for lawmakers to meet with their constituents and defend their record in Congress. And it's not going well for the GOP, with constituents packing into town halls to give the few Republican members brave enough to hold such events a piece of their mind.

The latest victim is Rep. Mike Flood, a Republican who represents a district in Nebraska that President Donald Trump carried by 13 points in 2024. That makes Flood’s district a safe Republican seat in a typical year, but one that could be competitive if backlash to Trump and the GOP’s agenda creates Democratic wave conditions in next year’s midterms.

The response Flood got at his latest town hall event Monday night should have him shaking in his boots, as more than 750 people packed into an auditorium to boo, jeer, and demand answers for why Flood would vote for the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" that kicks millions off their health care and food stamps.

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The National Republican Congressional Committee—the campaign arm of House Republicans—has advised its members to “go on offense” about “One Big, Beautiful Bill” to sell it to voters. 

But that didn't work at Flood's town hall, with voters calling Flood a liar as he sought to defend himself for voting for legislation that steals critical benefits from the poorest Americans in order to only partly pay for tax cuts that benefit the rich. 

When asked why he'd vote for the bill, Flood said that, "We do not have unlimited money in the United States."

"Do you think that people who are 28 years old, that can work and refuse to work, should get free health care?" Flood added, to which the audience replied that they believe people like that do deserve health care.

But OBBB wasn't the only thing Flood's constituents were mad at him for. Other town hall attendees called Flood a fascist for supporting Trump's immigration policies, including the inhumane “Alligator Alcatraz” detention facility in Florida.

"You said in Seward [County] that you were not a fascist,” one attendee said. “But your complicity says otherwise.”

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By the end of the night on Monday, attendees were chanting "vote him out”—an ominous sign for the Republican lawmaker.

Flood, for his part, is one of the few Republicans who has held town halls this year, with most in hiding to avoid facing the rage of angry voters. Indeed, GOP leaders have advised Republican lawmakers not to hold town hall events to avoid the kind of confrontations Flood faced on Monday night. 

The ones who have held events have been met with similarly angry voters. For example, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) was booed and jeered at a town hall he hosted on July 31 for everything from supporting Trump’s destructive tariffs to Trump’s deportation policy. Steil represents a district Trump carried by 4.5 points in 2024, making him a prime Democratic target in next year’s midterms.

And Rep. August Pfluger—who represents a safe GOP seat in Texas—was asked by angry constituents at a town hall in late July about why money meant for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was being redirected to build immigrant detention facilities like “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Republicans who deny that these town hall events matter do so at their own peril.

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