Republican Town Hall Goes Off the Rails as He’s Showered in Boos

In March, GOP leadership discouraged its lawmakers from holding in-person town halls amid mounting backlash to the Trump administration.

Representative Bryan Steil of Wisconsin was the first Republican in the state to disobey this directive. After constituents held weekly protests outside his office urging him to hold an in-person event, Steil finally relented with what his office called a “listening session.”

After months of virtual-only town halls, there was lots of listening to do.

Steil entered the Elkhorn High School auditorium on Thursday to resounding boos and faced a raucous crowd for the duration of the 80-minute session, including fierce questions on his support of Trump’s agenda, as well as frequent interruptions, chants, and jeering.

Attendees were evidently fired up over Steil’s support of Trump’s budget, poised to tilt taxes in favor of the rich while tattering the social safety net. Steil defended his vote on the bill, which is also estimated to balloon the national debt by trillions of dollars. (When the lawmaker mentioned national debt as a pressing issue, one attendee interjected: “Thanks to you!”)

He also voiced his support of Trump’s controversial immigration policies—a topic that elicited “some of the loudest boos,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

More than one person in attendance referred to the Florida immigrant detention camp callously dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz” as a concentration camp, which Steil objected to. A constituent noted that “the difference between a prison or a detention center and a concentration camp is due process.”

Steil also had to address Trump’s tariffs (which one attendee called “a terrible tax that’s going to be placed on the citizens of the United States”), as well as Trump’s push to all but abolish the Department of Education (“Education is best resolved at the local level,” Steil said).

Many questions Steil faced reflected a widespread perception that Steil is in Trump’s pocket. One attendee said, “Southeast Wisconsin has not been represented by you. President Trump seems to run Southeast Wisconsin through you.”

Another made similar remarks in the context of immigration. “What I see happening to our immigrant population embarrasses me—horrifies me,” she said. “You have not raised a voice to complain about it. Where do I see your leadership? I see no leadership—I see you following Trump 100 percent of the time.” In response to this latter question, Steil, ironically, “lauded Trump’s executive orders and deportations,” Wisconsin Public Radio reports.

At another point in the meeting, though, he insisted that he doesn’t “always line up” with GOP leadership.

He has somewhat of a point there, as holding the town hall at all certainly went against his party leadership’s advice.

While resolute on enacting the more destructive elements of the president’s agenda, at least Steil eventually proved willing to hear his constituents’ concerns face to face. It’s more than can be said for many other Republicans in Congress. As one of Steil’s critics in the crowd told him: “I applaud you for standing up here and taking it.”