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With the town hall that happened in Georgia and more grassroots things starting to burgeon, I thought I’d start a new thread.

This was a hell of a video from Kinzinger:

https://adamkinzinger.substack.com/p/emergency-live-lets-be-loud

Makes sense. So It will never happen. Nobody on Capitol Hill has the balls to stand up to Trump. He’s won. I’m embarrassed to call myself an American right now.

At Testy Town Halls, Republicans Take Heat for Trump’s Bold Moves
Big crowds are showing up to complain about the unilateral nature of Trump’s early orders
By
Catherine Lucey
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,
Meridith McGraw
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and
Lindsay Wise
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Feb. 21, 2025 7:00 pm ET


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(2 min)


Rep. Rich McCormick (R., Ga.) got an earful about some of President Trump’s policies at his town-hall event.
Rep. Rich McCormick (R., Ga.) got an earful about some of President Trump’s policies at his town-hall event. Photo: City of Roswell
At a town-hall meeting in a Republican-friendly, Atlanta-area congressional district, boos rained down on GOP Rep. Rich McCormick as he tried to defend President Trump’s efforts to slash the federal government.

In one tense exchange before the hundreds of people there, a woman challenged McCormick over how he would “rein in the megalomaniac in the White House,” according to a video of the Thursday event posted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Eventually, McCormick—whose district backed him by a nearly two-to-one margin last year—acknowledged the audience’s concerns.

“I don’t want to see any president be too powerful,” McCormick said. His office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The contentious scene was one of a series of clashes in GOP congressional districts across the country in recent days that offered an early warning for the White House. While Trump is broadly giving voters what he promised during his campaign, the scope and unilateral nature of his early executive actions, as well as his upending of longstanding foreign alliances, is throwing some Republican lawmakers on the defensive.

At a recent town-hall meeting in West Bend, Wis., Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R., Wis.) was questioned about spending cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency and Trump’s blaming of Ukraine for Russia’s invasion, according to local news reports. Rep. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.) and Rep. Cliff Bentz (R., Ore.) also found themselves pressed at similar forums about Elon Musk’s involvement in the DOGE downsizing effort, which has included mass firings of federal workers, local reports show.

Protesters gathered outside some GOP offices in Arizona, Iowa, Pennsylvania and New York. Phone calls continue to pour into Republican and Democratic offices following an uptick last month when the Trump administration placed a temporary freeze on federal loans and grants, affecting programs such as Head Start.


It isn’t clear how much of the criticism at town halls is coming from voters who opposed Trump before he took office. One Republican aide involved in organizing a recent town hall said the complaints about executive orders and DOGE appeared to be coming mostly from moderates, liberals and independents. Progressive groups encouraged supporters to put pressure on lawmakers from both parties while House members were on a break from congressional activity. The local Democratic Party encouraged people to attend the Fitzgerald event in Wisconsin with signs, according to a local report.

“Normally the folks who are angry are the ones who call. We are getting lots of calls about Musk and lots of calls thanking me for sticking up for Ukraine,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R., Neb.), who represents a closely divided district and has pushed back on Trump’s comments blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion. “When I’m out and about though, I hear from folks who are happy with DOGE.”

Democrats have been struggling with how to respond to Trump, but some are starting to see an opportunity. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent, is holding town-hall events Friday and Saturday in Omaha, Neb., and Iowa City, Iowa, focusing on two Republican congressional districts that Democrats would like to flip in 2026 as part of what he is calling his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.

Some of the town halls have attracted a lot of people, catching lawmakers’ attention. More than a thousand people joined a tele-town hall Wednesday for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska). The senator apologized to those who were unable to get on the call, saying the system had been overwhelmed.

The last caller was a woman who identified herself as Dottie in Soldotna, Alaska. She told Murkowski she was a lifelong Alaskan who was “frustrated, angry and heartbroken” after her son, a 30-year career National Park Service employee, was fired four years from retirement.

A new CNN poll showed that 52% of adults thought that Trump had gone too far in using his executive power, compared with 39% who said it had been about right. The poll showed that 87% of Democrats and 57% of independents thought Trump had gone too far; 11% of Republicans thought he had gone too far, and 75% said his use of presidential powers had been about right.

Trump and his administration show no sign of slowing down after a busy first month in office. This week Trump signed executive orders to expand his power over independent regulatory agencies, end federal benefits for people in the country illegally and halt Covid-19 vaccine mandates in schools. In a post to Truth Social, Trump also ordered the Justice Department to remove all “Biden era” U.S. attorneys.

Trump got into a war of words with Volodymyr Zelensky after the Ukrainian president rejected Trump’s offer to take half of Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals as a form of repayment for military support. Trump called the Ukrainian president a “dictator” and blamed Ukraine for Russia’s invasion three years ago—statements that blindsided some congressional Republicans.




Upon announcing plans to end New York City’s congestion pricing program, Trump posted on Truth Social, “Long live the king!” He also raised the idea of seeking a third term—even though that is barred under the Constitution—saying at a White House event, “Should I run again? You tell me.”

Meanwhile, DOGE continued to slash the federal workforce, including thousands of Internal Revenue Service employees who were let go in the middle of tax season, and cutting some benefits that drew bipartisan support, like a fund that gave aid to responders and survivors of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“The overwhelming response from the American people is support for what this administration is doing,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters. “There should be no secret about the fact that this administration is committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse. The president campaigned on that promise.”

The Pentagon on Friday paused plans to potentially fire up to 55,000 temporary or probationary civilian personnel, according to defense officials and congressional staffers, after lawyers for the services cited a longtime federal statute requiring the department to conduct a review before any major personnel plans. The Pentagon later said it planned to continue with some job cuts, eventually eliminating as much as 8% of the workforce.

A number of Republican lawmakers have started raising concern about the rapid layoffs of federal workers and Trump’s foreign-policy shifts.

“I am all for efficiency and ultimately downsizing the federal government, but firing large numbers of new FBI agents is not the way to achieve this,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), in a post on X. “Louisiana specifically benefits from newly hired FBI agents. We need to add to our law enforcement, not take away.”

Write to Catherine Lucey at catherine_lucey@wsj.com, Meridith McGraw at Meridith.McGraw@WSJ.com and Lindsay Wise at lindsay.wise@wsj.com

Isn't it odd how people have been given flack for saying trump is acting like a king instead of a president? Now trump himself claims to be a king because he knows that's exactly what he's acting like. His loyal subjects follow along blindly pretending that isn't what's happening here.

I am seeing more and more vids of people who supported trump are now getting laid off (NBC Philly) and many others or their insulin went from 6 for a 28 day supply to $80 (C-Span call in).

and the tik toks from some of the repubs town halls are getting quite the views also-I am sure to be ready for the flood the zone-

I also seemed to notice in the videos I saw that there are a bunch of older folks and alot of women-and they seem to be hitting the hardest.

We will see if this movement gets legs-but when you ask a congressman 3 times-who started the war Ukraine or russia-and he can't give a straight answer-not a good look

They pretty much ran McCormick through the coals about the cuts-but lots of other stuff also

And the other town hall where a woman asked the co-sponsor of the Saves act why he is afraid of her voting-all were some sound bytes that could get some legs

Then McCormack can't stand the heat so e bails on a CNN interview.

Jon Stewart had a good way of framing the campaign and current presidency. He deemed it a Trojan horse. Trump actually had a lot of correct diagnoses:

1. Government is stagnant and overspending
2. People aren’t listened to or adequately represented
3. We have deviated from a meritocracy.

Those are all correct. People resonated with that. Then they invited the Trojan horse behind the closed walls. Now the loyal soldiers and jumping out of it burning the city down…but, unlike the Greeks, they’re saying that they’re there to help us. And some of us still buy it.

The other thing that he does and other right-wing political actors around the world are doing. Blaming illegal immigrants... Making them the sole reason for so many of a nation's problems. Easy for the right wingers to get on board with that, even though none of them seem to have actual answers for the hard part of getting the country back on line. Certainly raising tariffs doesn't actually help, certainly a 4.5 trillion dollar tax cut doesn't help. Tours of fort Knox don't help. And firing all of your federal employees isn't the answer either.

So ... I was thinking about this "counter movement" video the other day. What Kinzinger said was largely straight forward and highlights some of the early 2nd Term Trump issues.

In terms of a response or a way to counter Trump - I wanted to highlight that simply running around with our hair on fire shouting TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP .... did this, said that, dod this, said that, said it again, what a moron, what a Nazi, what a con man.... endlessly .... is not going to work. It didn't work in Term 1 - and it didn't work after Project 2025. It didn't work after being founf guilty liable of rape/sexual assault. It didn't work after finacial irregularites at his organization. Didn't work with using campaign funds to pay Stormy. Didn't work when he boasted about grabbing vaginas without consent. Didn't work when he ruminated on bleach as a remdy for Covid. Didn't work when he downplayed Covid only to tell the world he knew it was really serious after the event. Didn't work when he met Putin without ANY OTHER US representative with him. Didn't work when Barr lied about the Mueller Report or when Barr was found to have withheld parts of the Mueller report.

So in case you are wondering - it ain't going to work now. No matter how bad you think it is. Or how obvious. You happen to be paying attention .... 25% of Trumptards could give a rats patootie if he broke every law and peed all over the consitiution twice a day. The GOP and Dems seems paralized and scared. . . . my point being, or my question is: What different approach might make some headway???

I can tell you what I don't think works - rising to the bait of roman salutes or what may or may not be Hitler Salutes. No matter how tangental the parodies - Nazi reverences won't work. Reacting and talking about something new and outrageous each week is not going to work. . . . . so what might work? What is the tactic? Other than hoping that some politicians grow a spine? That the Supreme Court aren't as biased and lost as they might appear based on Clarence and Ginni.

I don't have the answer. I just want to highlight the fruitillity of repeating how everyone reacted before.

Another thought I had the other day. Musk owns the most / one of the most influencial SM websites in twitter. Between them they have been trying to get Tik tok. FB and Zuckerburg has been brought to heel and is now under their influence/control .... not a big surprise that many people will remain completely ignorant no matter what light is shed on this 2nd term and whether the actions are illegal and unconsitutional. I've heard that the horse has bolted and controls on SM are now impossible ... I don't believe that and it needs to happen. It is far to influencial to be unchecked. One of the reasons Musk and Trump have been critical of Europe? Of the UK - they have held people accountable for what they post on SM.... I'd say most of the noice from Musk is a reaction to that. Slightly off topic but there you go.

I think at this point the very things that trump is doing and will do will hit the very people that voted for him as much or more than anyone else. That's the only thing I think will work. When they feel the pain of his actions. We are already seeing a backlash. His approval rate is already dropping. He made promises about the economy that they are already figuring out was a lie. And it is the main reason most people voted for him. The economy.

Many of his supporters will tell you, "But he just took office. He hasn't had time yet." And I actually don't disagree with those saying that. The problem with that is he is the one who promised prices would start going down on day one. Nobody else said that or made that promise. So it appears what they're actually saying is that he lied to them yet again. And the policies he seems to be endorsing will only exasperate the problem.

People can question whether consumers see it the same way but consumer confidence is already going down. People are tightening their spending. 70% of our GDP is based on consumer spending so unless this situation reverses soon it won't bode well for the economy.

As I suggested before, self destruction seems the most likely end to trumpism.

I think self destruction is very plausible, like you say. I also think it’s going to take some combination of grass root movements, like what we saw recently in Georgia, along with an opposing candidate and message that actually resonates.

Assuming he doesn’t try to screw around with the votes, it wouldn’t take a TON to turn the tide against him. At our individual level, getting through to people who are independent minded and previously voted for Trump is probably priority number one. We - myself included - should probably stop wasting our time with the weasels who won’t change their mind regardless. Talking to a wall never got anyone anywhere.

I think also being extremely loud with those who represent us would not hurt. Concentrating mostly on the reps. Warren Davidson represents my district and the guy is a complete slug who basks in the fact that he can be stagnant. That’s probably how McCormick felt until his citizens actually put him on the proverbial stand. I’m sending messages to Davidson every day. Hell, I’m even thinking about being a real crazy ass and running against him. Even if it goes nowhere, if it means he can’t just rest on his laurels, that’s better than the current situation.

We have to start small. Anything is better than nothing. Hopefully whatever our efforts are, a blue collar advocate candidate with real messaging steps up to the plate for the next go around.

I've often hoped for a third party that falls somewhere in between the two extremes we see today. But after further reflection nothing gives my any confidence that with all of the power and money that comes along with politics it would end up any differently than the two parties we already have.

But at this point almost anything is worth a try.

I too have wished for something like that. Said for years that finding solutions doesn't start on the far right or far left... It starts in the center and works it's way left and right in a give and take approach.

Not sure how to get there but I think step one is take money out of it. It should not have to cost billions of dollars to get elected. All elections need to be state or fed funded.

Eliminate the Electoral college. after that, there is plenty to flesh out in the way of details... This would be tough to do but I think it can be done.

If they would take the money out of it we wouldn't see all of the extremism and division we are seeing now. But I agree that for a third party to actually give us the results we want money would have to be taken out of politics. Human nature demands it sadly. Otherwise the end result would just wind up being more of the same.

Self destruction is plausible. Assisted self destruction might be better. I would not rely on folks waking up.... X and the echo chamber will spin it somehow. That's my fear.

I think keeping things very simple. Keep it 100% factual. Keep it on the big things and sink the teeth in and don't let go. It seems counter intuitive - but it seems the more layers you add, the more noise you make and the louder ... the less they pay attention or want to listen.

Ain't that the sad truth.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/bernie-sanders-donald-trump

This could get legs I hope. Bernie is going to red states and districts encouraging people to speak up to their reps.

I would like to point out in the article how they’re talking about how Dem leadership is still seeking out endorsements from Silicon Valley and “good” billionaires. I think that confirms what OCD refers to as their “cuck” status.

They don’t get it.

Move if you are that embarrassed. Truthfully, I am embarrassed you call yourself an American.

So the very same people that approve of pardoning people who assaulted police officers and tried to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election........ The same people that yelled and screamed about biden and how America was going to hell for four years....... Now say stupid crap like this?

You're the one that should be embarrassed. People who don't like what's going on in this country fight to change. They don't retreat and surrender that way the Confederates did.

I can’t wait to hear you squeal when they come for your little pile of crap. You must think you’re a special snowflake.

The funny part in all of this? He endorsed trump who sides with Putin over Ukraine. He endorses a man who pardoned people that assaulted police officers. He voted for a man that was convicted on 34 felony counts then has the balls to say he's embarrassed about someone else calling themselves an American? What a crock of BS that is.

Red commie threat is more apt. Must have had an Olaf _____ski in the wood pile he calls his family tree. Comrade Peenski.

Wow, amazing press conference with all those small brained Trump boot lickers. This guy is going to change America and turn us into fascist trash.

Are you happy we have finally joined Russia's side?

Of course he is because he think the BS doesn’t apply to him and his. Daddy in the Oval is an evil [censored] so we all have to be one I guess.

Peen will be glad for whatever Trump tells him to be glad of. Period. If you haven't figured it out you haven't paid attention.