Trump Slams Protesters at GOP Town Halls

He tweets about 'so-called angry crowds'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 22, 2017 2:43 AM CST
Trump Slams 'So-Called Angry Crowds' at GOP Town Halls
Pro-choice supporters yell as Republican Rep. Earl Leroy "Buddy" Carter answers a question about repealing the Affordable Care Act during a town hall Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, in Savannah, Ga.   (Josh Galemore/Savannah Morning News via AP)

President Trump's latest target on Twitter is people who attend town hall-style meetings and voice objections to lawmakers—Republican ones, that is. "The so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!," Trump tweeted Tuesday evening. He was referring to the people who have been giving Republican lawmakers an earful on issues including health care, immigration, and Trump's tax returns in their home districts in recent weeks, Politico reports. One of them was Utah's Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who was greeted by deafening boos at a town hall earlier this month.

Some Republican lawmakers have chosen not to hold meetings to avoid what is being called an echo of the Tea Party movement, though Iowa's Sen. Charles Grassley is apparently made of sterner stuff, the New York Times reports. "I want to make clear it’s all legitimate," he said after plenty of hostile voices were heard at events he held in Iowa Tuesday. "If Hillary Clinton had been elected president, there’d be people from the conservative end of the spectrum to probably be doing the same thing." In Michigan, GOP Rep. Justin Amash agreed, tweeting in response to Trump: "They are our fellow Americans with legitimate concerns. We need to stop acting so fragile," the Hill reports. (More town hall meeting stories.)

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