President Donald Trump’s massive tax bill was met with an exceedingly cool reception — including loud boos — during another raucous town hall for Rep. Mike Flood (R-Neb.) on Monday.
“I’d ask you please not to refer to that monstrosity as the ‘big, beautiful bill,’” one voter requested to loud cheers at the event in Lincoln, Nebraska, that was aired live by PBS.
“It’s the name of the bill, though,” Flood said.
Flood’s attempts to justify SNAP cuts and Medicaid work requirements — both policies introduced in the legislation to cover the costs of tax cuts — also faced vocal opposition from the audience, with multiple voters raising concerns about specific changes to veterans’ benefits.
“If you are able to work and you are able-bodied, you have to work. If you choose not to work, you don’t get free health care,” Flood said to overwhelming jeers.
“Tax the rich, tax the rich,” attendees chanted at one point.
The crowd reaction at the town hall underscores the deep unpopularity of Trump’s tax bill and how it could prove electorally harmful to Republicans in the coming midterms.
The event also marks the latest time that Flood has been confronted by angry constituents this term, and signals voter discontent with Trump’s broader approach to issues as varied as the Jeffrey Epstein files, ICE detention and the recent firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“How much do taxpayers have to pay for a fascist country?” one voter questioned while listing the costs of operating a remote detention facility in the Florida Everglades.
Flood offered platitudes and pleaded ignorance when pressed on a number of topics, stating that the country didn’t have “unlimited money” to cover social programs, and that there’s a lot he didn’t know about the shock BLS firing.
He also seemed to praise himself for taking constituent questions.
“Fascists don’t hold town halls with open question-and-answer series,” Flood said.