MAGA Republicans are scared of town halls

Republican leadership warns House members not to talk to their constituents.

Presidents Donald Trump and Elon Musk are ruining the economy from either malice or incompetence. Either way, some constituents are angry, or at least would like to hear from their elected representative about what the fuck DOGE is doing to the federal government.

GOP representatives are being booed.

Republican congressmen are forcibly removing taxpayers for questioning them.

Because they cannot handle the cognitive dissonance of their own communities being harmed by the things they are cheerleading in DC, Representatives have decided to pretend that everybody who has concerns must be paid agitators, plants, or fake people. This presumes the Democratic National Committee is less cheap than in reality—I have tried for a long time to convince Democrats to pay me for criticizing Republicans to no avail.

Progressive organizations have indeed helped people find the dates and locations of town halls. This is hardly egregious—these are public events—unless these lazy congressmen took for granted they would have no audience. I can relate. I typically blog with the assumption nobody will read it, so I can feign surprise when DC insiders buy me drinks.

Now, Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), the National Republican Congressional Committee chair, has instructed the GOP to stop holding town halls. This is a disgrace, and suggests that Republicans are afraid of the people they govern. They chose to take no feedback instead of hearing about circumstances contradicting the party line, “the narrative.” Their faction is allergic to wrongthink, because if they ever heard about the effects of their actions, they would question whether or not to take those actions. Doubt or even rigor is impermissible in their regime.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz generously offered to host town halls in districts abandoned by R reps.

This is a great plan. Allow me to expand: A town hall in every district, every two weeks. If Republicans will not talk to their constituents, Democrats should. Then, bring a cardboard cutout of the GOP congressman for the audience to write notes on, and then deliver it to Capitol Hill while filming for Instagram stories or TikTok. If the incumbent will not accept the delivery themselves, leave it propped up in the Rotunda for the curious press to photograph.

Right now, I think Republicans believe that if they stay blind, later, they can pretend to be surprised. As I have asked before, and will again:

When the time comes for these spineless Republicans to denounce one of their presidents, I assume undercut-sporting Mr. Musk, who is currently ignoring the birth of his fourteenth child, will go under the bus. Then again, Mr. Trump might be looking like the submissive these days.

If these politicians are already cabined, cribbed, confined, and trying to avoid saucy doubts and fears, we must demand the Democrats see that their foes are very vulnerable, and can be beaten like a drum for the next two years before their final electoral drubbings. People so deep in cowardly contradiction have no hope of defending themselves against true attacks if they will not enter into honest conversations with their constituents. Democrats must act decisively, which I know can be difficult for them, but if they do not reap these easy rewards, they are also unfit to take space in DC that could go to someone more interesting.