Republican lawmakers hold telephone town halls as protesters demand more [View all]
Source: ABC News/AP
March 7, 2025, 6:16 PM
HOLLAND, Mich. -- Protesters demanding an in-person town hall from their western Michigan GOP congressman chanted loudly Friday as honking drivers signaled support, disrupting the usual calm of a conservative family vacation town. Mere hours later, Rep. Bill Huizenga held a town hall — by phone. The vocal disruption seen outside his Holland office earlier in the day was absent, as the more controlled setting allowed for questions from people who wrote and called in. “I know this may not be satisfactory to some who would like to just create a scene and be, you know, be disruptive,” Huizenga said on the call. “But we know that this is extremely effective for reaching people.”
Some Republicans have opted to hold telephone town halls after GOP leaders in recent days have advised lawmakers to skip town halls that have been filled with protesters decrying President Donald Trump administration’s slashing of federal government. GOP lawmakers have at times found themselves at a loss to explain the cuts, led by billionaire Elon Musk’sDepartment of Government Efficiency, that are leaving federal workers suddenly out of jobs in communities across the country.
Trump and other Republicans have accused paid activists of taking control of town halls. On Tuesday, Huizenga told News Channel 3 in west Michigan that the outreach overwhelming his office was “funded and organized by outside partisans.” Meanwhile, longtime Holland resident Linda Visscher and other protesters faced freezing temperatures and falling snow outside Huizenga’s office on Friday.
Holding a sign that read, “Our House seat is not your entitlement, you are accountable to your constituents,” she insisted she wasn’t being paid to protest. “I’m trying to think of a nice way of saying B.S. They are not activists,” said Visscher, who said her political affiliations “lean towards liberal.” “People who go to town halls are concerned citizens. And just because some of the representatives are getting yelled at or uncomfortably questioned doesn’t mean that you stop doing it," she added.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/republican-lawmakers-hold-telephone-town-halls-protesters-demand-119574904
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