GOP members of Congress meet with protests at town halls

Cleone Hermsen, of Carroll, Iowa, expresses her criticism while listening to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, during a veterans roundtable event at Maquoketa City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, in Maquoketa, Iowa. Iowa’s U.S. senators were met Tuesday with overflow crowds who pointedly questioned them about President Donald Trump’s actions during his first month in office and other issues. Although Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Ernst held meetings in small towns in northern and eastern Iowa, they drew big crowds. (Nicki Kohl/Telegraph Herald via AP) Cleone Hermsen, of Carroll, Iowa, expresses her criticism while listening to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, during a veterans roundtable event at Maquoketa City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, in Maquoketa, Iowa. Iowa’s U.S. senators were met Tuesday with overflow crowds who pointedly questioned them about President Donald Trump’s actions during his first month in office and other issues. Although Republican Sens. Charles Grassley and Ernst held meetings in small towns in northern and eastern Iowa, they drew big crowds. (Nicki Kohl/Telegraph Herald via AP)

By Associated Press February 22, 2017 3 min read

FAIRVIEW, Tenn. (AP) – Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn returned to her district Tuesday in Tennessee and was greeted by tough questions on topics from health care reform to President Donald Trump’s cabinet appointees. She also was met with protests.

While 100 people crammed into her town hall gathering about 30 miles from Nashville, another 100 people outside chanted about immigrant rights, Planned Parenthood and other topics in protest against the congresswoman and the president.

Blackburn’s town hall was among several protests lobbed at GOP members of Congress returning home this week on break to their districts around the U.S. Now many Republican lawmakers are opting against holding public town halls, instead organizing conference calls or meeting privately.

The crowd inside Blackburn’s event held up signs that said “agree” and “disagree,” and at times yelled out “alternative facts” and “shame on you for lying” after Blackburn’s responses.

“I have always said, you may not agree with me, but you’re always going to know where I stand,” Blackburn told the protesters outside Fairview City Hall afterward. “Having a good, solid, respectful debate, that is something that serves our country well.”