Protesters said they chose to show up to her event to voice their frustrations with Stefanik because the New York Republican—who has gone full MAGA since she was first elected to Congress in 2014 under the guise of being a “moderate” Republican—doesn't make herself available to her constituents.
"Well, Elise has not shown up in our district for months and months," Mavis Agnew, a protester who attended the event, told a local television news station. "She won't hold a town hall, she won't take questions. She's never in her office. People show up at her office constantly, door's closed. Her representatives, her employees won't talk to her. ... So this was her first appearance, the first opportunity we had to let her know we're unhappy."
Stefanik wasted no time playing the victim after Monday's event.
"Today #NY21 witnessed shameful conduct by radical Far Left Democrat agitators who disgracefully attempted to drown out and silence a non-political event in Plattsburgh to honor the lifelong service of John Zurlo in Clinton County as the building was named in his honor," Stefanik wrote in a post on X. "I was proud to deliver my remarks and privately give them to one of John’s sons along with the Congressional Record presented to the Zurlo family previously."
But Democrats said Stefanik should simply hold town hall meetings to hear from her constituents, rather than hiding away—which House Republican leadership has advised GOP members to do to avoid the kind of embarrassing confrontations with voters that have surfaced over the last few months.
