Things did ... not go well for GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards at a town hall in Asheville, North Carolina, this week as he was grilled about cuts made by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. ABC News reports that the Edwards town hall, held in a college auditorium and attended by hundreds, got so heated that security eventually had to escort Edwards out of the building. "You don't get to do this to us!" one attendee yelled at Edwards during the gathering, which the AP notes was 90 minutes of Edwards enduring "a constant barrage of jeers, expletives, and searing questions on Trump administration policies."
"I don't want to hear about your latest week in your office," said one constituent who pressed Edwards on Trump's push to squeeze a mineral deal out of Ukraine, as well as on Trump's apparent plans to annex Greenland and Canada. Another furious attendee was shown being led out of the meeting by security after directing that fury toward Edwards. "And you wonder why folks don't want to do these town halls," the "visibly exhausted" lawmaker said at one point, per the AP. The incident in Asheville comes after the head of the House GOP's campaign unit instructed Republican lawmakers earlier this month not to hold any more in-person town hall meetings, due to public backlash, per Politico. Edwards apparently ignored that order.
In response to that mandate, Democrats in all 50 states are planning a series of town halls in districts with Republican lawmakers thought to be vulnerable ahead of the 2026 midterms, reports the New York Times. "If they won't talk to their own voters, then Democrats will," new DNC Chair Ken Martin says. Minnesota Gov. and former Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz will headline two of those town halls this weekend. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's credited with jump-starting the idea, has already hosted five such town halls, drawing thousands. (More town hall meeting stories.)
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