Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) faced some voters upset with Democrats’ response to the Trump administration at a town hall in his district.
Casten is the latest House member to face angry constituents as both Democrats and Republicans have been chastised by their voters over cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency and other policies of the Trump administration. At one point during Casten’s town hall in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove, Illinois, an attendee confronted him.
“What you’re saying is I’m not going to get my way when my people are being slaughtered, and I want you to stop funding that,” one man shouted as he approached the stage.
“If you would like to run for office, run for office,” Casten responded.
“That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard,” the attendee yelled back. “You are the most soulless piece of crap I have ever seen.”
The man then walked closer to Casten on the stage, according to footage obtained by CNN. Casten then asked him to get off the stage when police arrived and the town hall ended.
Other Democrats have also faced angry voters at town halls while the House is in recess and members are typically in their home districts. Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD), in his deep-blue district in the suburbs of Washington, was also yelled at at a town hall meeting earlier this week.
HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHIEF ADVISES MEMBERS TO AVOID IN-PERSON TOWN HALLS
The chairman of House Republicans’ campaign arm told their caucus to avoid holding in-person town hall meetings after several members faced angry voters. Some Republicans have continued to hold them, where they face constituents voicing their concerns about cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, while other Republicans, including Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), have been accused of not facing their voters.
Some Democrats have harped on Republicans’ apparent absence and begun holding their own town halls in those districts. Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) visited Van Orden’s swing district to hold a town hall on Tuesday. In the western Wisconsin district, the liberal group Opportunity Wisconsin has put up a red billboard that reads, “Have you seen our congressman? Call and demand he hold a town hall.”