U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds was the latest Republican lawmaker to face a testy town hall on Monday night, being questioned for his support of certain policies implemented by the Trump administration, including the measures by Elon Musk's DOGE and the end of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs.
📍Estero, FL
— Taurean Small (@taureansmall) April 21, 2025
A tense start to tonight’s townhall hosted by @ByronDonalds.
The first question was about oversight of DOGE/Elon Musk. Many in the crowd jeered the congressman’s response. pic.twitter.com/nI47c1IJBb
A member of the House Oversight Committee, Donalds was asked during a passage of the event what the panel was doing to keep tabs on DOGE as it gets access to sensitive data across government agencies to slash spending.
"We actually have to let the DOGE committee, the DOGE department, actually finish its work. What they are examining now is inefficiency in the federal system," Donalds said. Some of his statements prompted jeers from the crowd, leading the lawmaker to let him speak. "Do you want to yell or do you want to hear," he added at one point.
Donalds went on to claim that former President Barack Obama also wanted to get rid of inefficiency at the federal government, but the equivalency drew loud shouting from the crowd, WSVN reported.
In another passage of the town hall, Donalds, who is running for Florida governor next year, discussed DEI programs, saying that getting rid of them means that "somehow minority kids cannot get ahead." "There's no level playing field in life; it doesn't exist," he said. That led a man to tell him to read a particular book, prompting Donalds to retort: ""I love how everybody is shouting at me, the Black guy with the microphone in his hand onstage."
Two other Republican lawmakers who faced tough questions from the crowd were Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The former faced frustration from voters who protested over the president's refusal to bring back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran immigrant who was mistakenly deported.
Grassley faced voters in an hour-long heated debate. While the audience shouted at him over different grievances, one question remained constant: "Are you going to bring that guy back from El Salvador?"
The question, originally posed by a man in the audience, was met with enthusiastic claps from many in the crowd of about 100.
"I'm not going to," Grassley said. Pressed to explain his stance, he added, "Because that's not a power of Congress."
Greene, on her end, saw police officers subdue protesters at her town hall, even tasing one. The Republican defended the police's actions, saying hey "conducted themselves in textbook fashion and protected every single person there by keeping the peace."
Overall, three people ended up being arrested at the town hall in Acworth. Others were also escorted out as the lawmaker claimed they were being disruptive. However, most of the 150 attendees were supportive of Greene, who vowed to "stand by my president" during a passage of her address as she answered to a critical question. She added that she would "fight for his agenda with everything I have in Congress."
Most Republican lawmakers are not planning on holding town halls, stepping away from the spotlight after viral meetings showed angry voters demanding changes from the Trump administration.
Republicans have largely dismissed the town hall uproar, baselessly claiming the presence of "paid troublemakers," people who attended the meeting with the sole purpose of causing noise.
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