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A man who identified himself as a veteran heckled a Republican congressman on Thursday as yet another GOP town hall event descended into chaos.
The action erupted as Representative Chuck Edwards held a town hall in Asheville, North Carolina on Thursday evening. The lawmaker was speaking to constituents about voting yes on the House budget resolution when the crowd started booing.
“And you wonder why folks don’t want to do town halls anymore?” Edwards quipped.
In response, a man in the crowd stood up, identified himself as a veteran and began shouting at the lawmaker.
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“You have nothing to say but lies,” the man yelled, as his fellow audience members laughed and cheered. “You’re lying. I’m a veteran, you don’t give a f*** about me.”
“You don’t get to take away our rights,” the man continued as security guards approached him.
Four officers surrounded the man, leading him from his seat as he continued his profanity-laden rant.
“F*** you,” he yelled as the officers walked him out. He continued to shout while walking out of the auditorium, accompanied by continued cheer and applause.
“You don’t get to do this,” he said as he left the room.
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The Independent has contacted Edwards for comment.
The ugly confrontation comes after the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee advised GOP lawmakers to avoid town halls after raucous encounters over federal job cuts went viral earlier this year.
Chairman Richard Hudson, a GOP lawmaker from North Carolina, warned that “in-person town halls are no longer effective because Democrat activists are threatening democracy by disrupting the actual communication at town halls.”
He offered no evidence that the town halls were populated by Democratic activists.
One of the problematic town hall events was hosted last month by Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, NBC News recounted.
When Marshall told constituents that Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employees were fully vetted, the crowd erupted in boos. Then, when a constituent asked about job cuts impacting veterans, Marshall simply walked out of the town hall. Audience members booed again and complained he didn’t stay for the full hour.
Similarly, Republican Mark Alford drew angry shouts of opposition from a dozens-strong crowd as he tried to defend sweeping government cutbacks while speaking to his constituents in Missouri last month.
GOP Representative Rich McCormick found himself in a similar situation in Georgia, as his constituents confronted him over DOGE’s “chainsaw approach” to slashing federal spending.
