Kentucky GOP Congressman Andy Barr held a telephone town hall Monday evening. The Sixth District representative played to a mostly friendly home crowd. The telephone town hall follows a weekend town hall hosted by a community group that was not so friendly to Barr. At Monday's event, Barr took around 16 questions over the 90-minute teleconference.
Many of the questions were focused on the economy and the role of the Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump Administration.
Barr also took a question from a caller identified as Aletha from Nicholasville. She asked the congressman about rumored cuts to Medicaid. “It is likely there will be some reforms to some of the mandatory spending programs, including, and most prominently, probably Medicaid. The object here is not to cut any benefits, the objective is to reform the program so it works better.”
Early in the call, Barr was asked about protesters many GOP politicians are seeing. “We don't know where some of these protesters are from, that's ok. They have a right to protest all they want, but I think it does show what a vibrant and healthy democracy that we all live in.”
On Saturday a group called Gathering for Democracy held what they billed as a “People's Town Hall” in Lexington.
Nearly 900 people showed up and many used their time to speak to ask questions about what Congressman Barr is doing to help Kentuckians. Barr was invited to the event but did not attend.
Many in the audience were critical of Barr and upset over the speed and volume of changes to federal programs. Barr said on Facebook "No amount of manufactured outrage by paid activists will stop the mandate for the total overhaul of DC. I stand with Donald Trump and Elon Musk to Make America Great Again."
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has encouraged GOP lawmakers nationwide to skip town hall meetings since they have become scenes filled with protesters.
Congressman Andy Barr's full telephone town hall from Monday evening can be heard on his Facebook page.
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