Democrats ‘piling on’ as Republicans ‘hiding from voters’ who want town halls
Democrats are calling out Republican lawmakers for shutting down constituent town halls that have gotten too hot for them to handle.
GOP lawmakers who have met with angry constituents recently include reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Rich McCormick (R-GA), Keith Self (R-TX) and Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS). Many of the lawmakers have struggled to answer pointed constituent questions about President Donald Trump and his lieutenant Elon Musk, leading to boos and jeers from the crowd.
Trump himself has discounted the complaints as coming from "paid troublemakers," and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) agreed: "There are people who do this as a profession, they're professional protesters," he said.
The Republicans' solution to their constituents' complaints? No more in-person town halls.
ALSO READ: 'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight
According to Politico, "The chair of the House GOP's campaign arm told Republican lawmakers Tuesday to stop holding in-person town halls amid a wave of angry backlash over the cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump's administration. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the NRCC chair, delivered the message inside a closed-door meeting of House Republicans, according to three people granted anonymity to describe the private remarks."
Congressional Democrats immediately pounced on the new directive.
Rep. Theresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) accused the GOP of being "afraid of their constituents," while a House Democratic super PAC spokesperson said, "If you're going to have the audacity to raise prices and rip away health care from millions of Americans, you should at least have the courage to face your constituents," Politico reported.
Max Cohen with Punchbowl News quoted Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson Viet Shelton on X: "So House Republicans’ political strategy is ‘see no families nor workers,’ ‘hear no protesters’, ‘speak to no one’ and hope everyone gets less angry at them when they rip away Americans’ health care? Got it.”
Cohen also quoted Democratic spokesperson Emma Weir: "Plain and simple: Republicans are hiding from the voters who elected them because they’re breaking their promises... It’s time they take responsibility for their dangerous actions.”
‘Dumb’: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a message to Trump over tariffs
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attacked President Donald Trump's tariffs on Mexico and Canada as "dumb. "
The tariffs began at midnight, and Trudeau announced that his nation would retaliate with a 25 percent levy on $30 billion of U.S. goods coming into Canada.
In his briefing, Trudeau connected Trump's tariffs to appeasing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, the closest friend," Trudeau said. "At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying murderous dictator. Make that make sense."
ALSO READ: 'Absolutely unconscionable': Ex-Republican demands Trump removed from office after fight
“The excuse that [Trump] is giving for these tariffs today of fentanyl is completely bogus, completely unjustified, completely false … and I will admit, I have been holding out hope that these tariffs were just a clever negotiating ploy," Trudeau continued.
In a statement issued Monday, Trudeau cited data to disprove Trump's claims that Canada is responsible for the fentanyl coming into the United States.
“While less than 1 percent of the fentanyl intercepted at the U.S. border comes from Canada, we have worked relentlessly to address this scourge that affects Canadians and Americans alike," Trudeau said. "We implemented a $1.3 billion border plan with new choppers, boots on the ground, more co-ordination, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl."
"We appointed a fentanyl czar, listed transnational criminal cartels as terrorist organizations, launched the Joint Operational Intelligence Cell, and are establishing a Canada-U.S. joint strike force on organized crime," his statement added. "Because of this work – in partnership with the United States – fentanyl seizures from Canada have dropped 97 percent between December 2024 and January 2025 to a near-zero low of 0.03 pounds seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection."
Speaking to the press, an angry Trudeau said: "Donald, this is a very dumb thing to do."
The "Trudeau Tracker" shows that Trudeau's approval rating increased more than 10 points since the battle with Trump over trade.
See the press conference below or at the link here.
- YouTube www.youtube.com
Tyranny expert warns Trump’s people may be eying fake terror attack in US
With the war with Iran spiraling and public opinion about the military excursion at an all-time low, a leading scholar on tyranny warned on Tuesday that Donald Trump’s people may do the unthinkable.
Late Monday, Fox News host Laura Ingraham warned the president that “the clock is ticking” as supporters lose patience with the war that has been unpopular since the U.S. attacked in late February.
According to historian Timothy Snyder, whose book "On Tyranny" is often cited when discussing the Trump administration, a false flag terror attack in the U.S. that can be blamed on Iran is not beyond the realm of possibilities as the president's approval numbers slide.
On X he wrote, “Trump is pursuing this war in the HOPE that Iran carries out an act of terror in the US. And even if it doesn’t, which I doubt it will, consider the possibility that Trump's people would fake one. Please consider this essay, written back in March, as well as the last few lessons of ‘On Tyranny.’”
In the March essay he linked to, he predicted, "A purpose of the war on Iran might well be to provoke a terrorist attack inside the United States. This would provide Donald Trump with a pretext to try to cancel or 'federalize' the coming Congressional elections.“
"Self-terrorism might not have been the initial aim; but as time goes by, and failures and atrocities mount, its appeal will grow. Trump could think that he has much to gain; the war itself makes terrorism more likely; there are plausible vectors of terror; and the United States has let down its defenses," he added.
As for the timing, he elaborated, “We know that he is obsessed with the fall elections, which his party will almost certainly lose by spectacular margins, and that he fears the accordant loss of power. This is clear from his own statements and actions.”
