A Wisconsin congressman was booed relentlessly when he tried to defend President Donald Trump’s policies at a rare in-person town hall.
Republican Bryan Steil could barely get a word in as his constituents yelled and jeered in response to his answers on everything from border security to tariffs to the president’s “Big Beautiful” budget bill, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Video footage obtained by MSNBC’s Morning Joe showed a number of deeply uncomfortable exchanges.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Why are [ICE agents] wearing masks, and why are they unidentified?” one woman asked to cheers.
“We’ll probably agree to disagree on some of my answer here. But what I view is the moral hazard created by the Biden administration by allowing the U.S. border…,” Steil replied, before being drowned out with boos.
He continued, “…to remain unsecure, and so...,” before the heckling got so loud that he was forced to stop.
“It’s completely fine that we disagree,” he said as the crowd yelled. “There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing on the topic.”
An elderly man holding a small American flag later said softly, “I am so disappointed,” inspiring a younger man to cry out, “Yeah!”
“I am so disappointed in how you represent us as the citizens of Walworth County,” the older man continued to applause. “Southeast Wisconsin has not been represented by you. President Trump seems to run southeast Wisconsin through you. And all I have to ask is, I will be out there working hard if you choose to run for any office.”
Another woman drew yet more applause and cheering when she told Steil, “I don’t think you’re the right fit for us anymore. I just think it’s time to go. You just don’t relate to most of us anymore and you gotta know when to step down. I think it’s time.”
The event was Steil’s first in-person town hall since January, and the first time a Wisconsin Republican has met with constituents in person since March, when party leadership advised their caucus to avoid in-person events, the Journal Sentinel reported.
Republicans like Steil who have bucked leadership’s advice to try to sell Trump’s agenda have faced anger and ridicule, and given answers that were so bad they inadvertently penned new political slogans for Democrats.
About 250 people packed the Elkhorn Area High School auditorium for the town hall. Before the event, about 50 demonstrators gathered outside to protest Steil’s support for the president’s budget bill, which is predicted to cause tens of thousands of Wisconsinites to lose Medicaid coverage.
Steil is one of two Wisconsin representatives whom Democrats plan to target as they seek to flip the House in next year’s midterm elections.
