Democrats Show Up In Republicans’ Backyards To Troll Them
Democrats are making good on their promise to hold town halls in Republican districts, and they’re putting on a show.
In Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden’s Wisconsin district Tuesday night, Democratic Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan trolled his political rival by standing on stage next to an empty chair reserved for Van Orden, who had declined to join him at the town hall in Viroqua.
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“Derrick was a NO SHOW, but over 300 people in the town of 4500 showed up. Empty seat for him,” Pocan wrote on social media. “Of note: Derrick doesn’t respond to constituents & they don’t like cuts to Medicaid & other programs.”
Van Orden “is afraid of his constituents, and he can be fired in 2026,” the progressive continued.
Van Orden’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
GOP leadership directed Republican lawmakers to stop holding in-person town halls after several were disrupted by protesters outraged that President Donald Trump is gutting federal programs under the guidance of his ally Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth.
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Both Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) have claimed without evidence that the protesters are being paid to make a scene.
Van Orden denounced them as “George Soros-funded agitators” who are being “completely disrespectful,” and has pivoted to doing virtual town halls.
But Pocan is determined to be a thorn in his rival’s side. When Van Orden and several other Republicans were no-shows at an event hosted by the Wisconsin Farmers Union last month, which focused on farmers’ concerns about Trump’s policies, Pocan repeatedly joked to the crowd that Van Orden was “on vacation.”
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Democrats have even bigger signs than Pocan’s in the works. The Democratic National Committee said Wednesday it’s putting up several billboards in Republican-controlled districts telling residents to demand their representatives hold town halls.
“Republicans are refusing to meet with their constituents after voting to take away health care and make it harder for families to put food on the table,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “This isn’t surprising ― over the last few months, one word has come to describe Republicans: cowards.”
The billboards will be deployed across Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Pennsylvania, and will feature Republicans’ phone numbers.
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Tom Williams via Getty Images
Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate against Trump last year, has also held events in Republican areas. At an appearance in Eau Clare, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night, he slammed Musk as a “dipshit” and a “South African nepo baby.”
Walz has made several visits to Republican districts in recent days, including ones in Iowa and Nebraska. He teased the visits in a social media post earlier this month, saying: “If your Republican representative won’t meet with you because their agenda is so unpopular, maybe a Democrat will. Hell, maybe I will. If your congressman refuses to meet, I’ll come host an event in their district to help local Democrats beat ’em.”
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are also holding town halls in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado this week. Event organizers in Denver say they expect a crowd of 20,000 on Friday.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) also plans to hold town halls in Republican-represented Bakersfield, Anaheim and Norco this weekend.
“I want to make sure people know their members should not be voting for cuts to Medicaid,” Khanna said on Fox 11 Los Angeles on Tuesday.
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These efforts are part of a strategy laid out by House Democrats, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Association of State Democratic Committee last week.
“We’re filling a void that’s left open by our Republican colleagues who are too scared to show up to town halls in their own districts because they’re doing things that are not popular,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) told reporters during the Democrats’ annual retreat in Leesburg, Virginia.
