Leftist Political Theater Back At GOP Town Hall Meetings

The liberal spin machine that is the accomplice media want you to know that constituents in congressional districts represented by Republicans are “angry” and “outraged.” 

The “hostile audiences” the House members are encountering reportedly are in response to President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Department of Government Efficiency’s efforts to give the morbidly obese federal government bureaucracy a daily Ozempic injection. Constituents in congressional districts won handily by Republicans are mad as hell about DOGE finding criminal abuses of tax dollars and they’re not going to take it anymore, the corporate media talking points want you to believe. 

If it all seems familiar, if you suspect you’ve seen this movie before, it’s because it is and you have. It’s early early 2017 again, and the Trump-hating resistance movement is up to its old tricks. The leftist network is working overtime again to gin up indignation against Trump and MAGA Republicans, recruiting protesters for “raucous” demonstrations lapped up and mass marketed by the Pravda press. 

“Protesters in cities across the US rally against Trump’s policies, Project 2025 and Elon Musk,” the Associated Press trumpeted earlier this month. 

“Harrisonburg protesters condemn Trump, seek solidarity and more effective action,” Virginia TV station WHSV dutifully reported following a gathering of leftist activists over the weekend. 

“Protesters rally against Trump: Attendees angered by Musk’s influence, Democrats’ inaction,”  a Smoky Mountain News headline proclaimed.  

As important as showing how “unpopular” Trump and his agenda are, the left’s psyop sequel for Trump 2.0 is to make sure Democrats — stunned by the losses they suffered in November thanks to unpopular leftist policies — wake up and smell the protests.  

‘Public Displays of Unrest’

Left-wing Talking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall on Saturday told his readers that he was putting together a list of town halls “where GOP members of Congress got rocked by constituents this past week while they were on break.”

“There are so many now that I can’t really write a whole post about each one,” Marshall gleefully wrote. “But I wanted to ask if you could send me links if there are examples where your member of Congress or Senator had a similar experience so I can add it to the list.” 

He noted about a half dozen such examples, including a town hall session in Roswell, Ga., That’s where, according to CNN and myriad corporate media outlets, Rep. Rich McCormick faced boos and “public displays of unrest” for defending the Trump administration’s sacking of hundreds of federal workers because Democrats apparently believe only private sector employees are subject to layoffs.  

“Tyranny is rising in the White House, and a man has declared himself our king. So, I would like to know rather, the people would like to know, what you, congressman, and your fellow congressmen are going to do to rein in the megalomaniac in the White House?” one person asked the congressman, CNN reported. The question, according to the Trump-hating cable news outlet, resulted “in loud cheers and a standing ovation from several people in the room.”

Just who were the critics of the congressman? CNN doesn’t say. Were they the sweeping majority of constituents who voted for a man who won another term representing the deep red 7th Congressional District by about 30 percentage points over his Dem opponent?

McCormick attempted to reason with what was an unreasonable crowd, just as some Republicans attempted to do when leftists organized similar public displays of opposition — much of it staged — in Trump’s first presidential term.

“I came here to have a discussion. I think a lot of you didn’t come here in good faith to have a discussion. You came here to yell at me and to boo me,” McCormick complained. 

‘Join the Mission’

The Georgia congressman is right. The activists came to be part of a leftist-led show to create a narrative at odds with reality. A new Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll found 72 percent of registered voters support what DOGE is all about — an agency devoted to tackling government waste. That overwhelming majority includes nearly nine in 10 Republicans, two thirds of independents and about 60 percent of Democrats. 

At the same time, a majority of voters (52%) approve of the job Trump has done in the first month-plus. Republican Party approval has remained steady while support for the Democratic Party has slipped to an abysmal 36 percent. 

“Two-thirds of voters agree Democrats should wait and see what Trump is doing before opposing, and say Dems should join the mission to cut government waste,” the poll states. 

‘Force Them to Answer for Their Complicity’

The song remains the same for the left and its media partners. Groups such as Indivisible have again been busy rounding up activists to star in town hall shows for hungry cameras and smartphones. Launched in 2016 to oppose Trump, Indivisible literally wrote the book on “Resisting the Trump Agenda.” Ahead of last week’s congressional recess, the left-wing organization posted its Musk or Us Toolkit. It’s a resource guide for rallying the usual suspects to occupy the offices and constituent events of House Republicans who, according to Indivisible, “are  complicit in Trump and Musk’s power grab — and they think they can dodge accountability.” It is, of course, interesting that Democrats are in fact the ones attempting to dodge DOGE’s efforts to hold federal agencies and agents accountable for criminal waste, fraud and abuse. 

The plan, as it was during the first Trump administration, is to force Republican lawmakers “on the record, expose their corruption, and make them pay a political price.” And Indivisible offers a “few ideas” to get leftist activists started “— but get creative!” Among the guidance, the took kit advises protesters to coordinate with local media to “cover your visit,” and it encourages confrontation, and lying — lots of lying. 

“These questions are designed to corner them, force them to answer for their complicity and make them squirm. You can use this website created by House Democrats to pull district-specific data on how Republicans’ economic plans would impact constituents,” the tool kit urges. Activists, according to the guidance, should show up at town halls and “ask tough questions.” What they mean by “tough” is loaded questions filled with political spin, half truths and outright lies. 

Sample questions to Republican lawmakers include: 

“Your budget slashes Medicaid and food assistance but gives Elon Musk a tax break. Why?” 

“Why does Musk have more control over taxpayer money than voters?”

“Why is your budget attacking immigrants instead of holding billionaires accountable?”

The tool kit encourages “street theater,” including having a protester wear a “Musk mask” and hold a House Republican “like a puppet.” 

And Indivisible has a plan for making sure congressional Democrats do the left thing, voting against “any budget that includes extremist cuts, poison pill riders, or lacks safeguards against Musk’s power grab.” 

“We want to lift up the Democrats who are standing strong—and remind them we’ve got their backs,” the toolkit explains. 

‘It was Obvious Who They Were’

Much has changed since the first Trump administration. Trump learned some valuable lessons in his first term, specifically how to deal with the deep state, the swamp, and an incredibly corrupt corporate media. Some Republicans have, too. 

Rep. Glenn Grothman encountered confrontational constituent theater at his district town halls last week. While the Wisconsin Republican congressman acknowledged that most of the people in attendance were from his 6th Congressional District, he said it’s the same opposition activist showing up. 

“I think it would be like every member of the Winnebago County Democratic Party turning out in a show of force. These are not people that all of a sudden have changed their minds about something. It was obvious who they were,” Grothman told The Federalist in an interview. 

Washington Post columnist Philip Bump used the “hostile audience” in attendance at Grothman’s Oshkosh-area town hall last week to construct his narrative that “the right is doing a good job convincing the right that Trump is doing a good job. But only the right.” Noting Grothman decisively won his sixth term in a solidly red congressional district, Bump opined that the representative “probably wasn’t expecting that he’d be booed.”

“The ensuing conversation with his constituents was not much friendlier than his initial reception,” the columnist wrote. “Wisconsinites challenged Grothman’s claims about the month-old administration of President Donald Trump and, particularly, criticized Trump adviser Elon Musk’s efforts to oust thousands of federal employees from their positions. Wisconsin Public Radio reports that Grothman’s defenses often met with hostility from the crowd.”

The crowd booed and hissed and screamed at the congressman when he defended Trump and Musk, video of the event shows. At one point audience members chanted, “Do your job!” Multiple corporate news outlets were on hand to cover every contentious second — as planned. 

‘A Political Stunt’

Grothman said he wasn’t all that surprised, and the unfriendly reception from the crowd didn’t bother him. He’s seen it all before. The same political show hounded him and others at town halls during Trump’s first term. Grothman told a reporter from NBC 26 that he’s going to give Musk and DOGE his own ideas on how to cut spending. 

“I enjoy meeting with these people,” he told The Federalist. “It’s amazing how misinformed they are.” 

Grothman isn’t backing down. Neither are the other House Republican targeted by left-wing activists at recent town halls. 

“It’s easy to be critical, but the people voted for change in November, and that’s exactly what they’re getting,” Rep. Jay Obernolte, a California Republican who faced town hall chants of “No King!” told Politico. 

“It’s unfortunate that the other party’s chosen to turn this into a political stunt,” he added. 

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.