Republican Congressman Mike Flood stood firm during an unwelcome return home to Nebraska on Monday after voting for President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill. Seven hundred constituents showed up at a town hall meeting to boo and jeer at him for over an hour.
Though his district is largely red, the town hall took place in Lincoln, a left-leaning city.
Rep. Flood was received favorably enough during his introductory remarks, but as soon as he mentioned healthcare and the Big Beautiful Bill, he was met with an onslaught of angry voices.
“The only way we’re going to get through tonight,” he said, “is if I get a chance to tell you how I voted,” he said.
When he asked whether “people who are 28 years old that can work and refuse to work should get free healthcare?” the audience responded by cheering.
“I don’t think that the majority of Nebraskans agree with you,” he responded.
62% of Americans support work requirements for the able-bodied receiving Medicaid, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
One attendee called him a fascist. “Fascists don’t hold town halls with open question and answer sessions,” Flood replied.
The session ended with audience members screaming, “Vote him out.”
Republican leaders have discouraged members of their party from hosting town halls during the current August recess, anticipating waves of hostile Democrat protesters in the wake of the Trump administration’s DOGE cuts and the Big Beautiful Bill.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), the chairman of House Republicans’ campaign arm, suggested Republicans host tele-town halls or Facebook Live events, which would allow them to filter rage-bait questions and comments.
Rep. Flood insisted on having an in-person gathering. Speaking to reporters after the event, he said he believed that showing up was part of the job.
“This doesn’t get better unless we show up in the town square,” he said. “If you feel strongly about what you’re doing in Congress, then stand in the town square, tell them why you voted that way.”
However, he announced that this town hall would be his “third and final one for the year,” and suggested he might find an alternative format for his next event.