Politics

‘You’re not fighting!’: Dems run into angry crowds at town halls

Published

2 years ago

March 19, 2025

Congressional Democrats — who were hoping to blast Republicans over budget cuts — instead took incoming from their exasperated constituents when they traveled home to host town halls.

In Arizona, Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly were confronted at a joint forum Monday by an attendee demanding to know if they “would support removing” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. In Oregon, an audience member told Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Janelle Bynum on Sunday that he is “so pissed off right now at the leadership in the United States Senate that they are not willing to step up and fight.”

“Schumer has done what I think is the most destructive thing that he could possibly do as Democratic leader,” another cried on Saturday to Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont.

And those reactions were relatively mild compared to the scene that played out in the Washington suburbs Tuesday night when Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) held a town hall.

“You’re not fighting!” one woman shouted from the balcony, before being escorted out. “We are suffering!”

If Democrats were wondering where their 2017-era grassroots resistance army had gone, they’ve found their answer. Schumer’s willingness to vote with Republicans to advance a spending bill — and avoid a shutdown — has enraged the Democratic faithful not just in Washington, but across the nation. The blast radius is spreading throughout the party, far beyond Schumer.

In testy exchanges, town hall attendees pressed congressional Democrats to stop trying to strike compromises with Republicans, to adopt a stance that matches the gravity of the moment and to cease using court rulings or the midterms as their solution. What many hoped could have been a unifying force — a principle-driven government shutdown — exposed deep cleavages in a party still smarting from widespread losses last fall.

“If you’re Chuck Schumer, you’re wondering, ‘Why aren’t you screaming at Trump? Why aren’t you angry at the Republicans?’” said former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, who began a town hall last week in his old New Jersey district just as news broke of Schumer’s decision. “We could ride that anger in two years to take back the House and the Senate. But most Democrats worry that we can’t wait for two years.”

Malinowski held the event because the GOP incumbent who ousted him would not.

It was only weeks ago that House Republicans were facing their own rowdy forums as constituents and liberal grassroots groups protested Elon Musk’s attempt to dismantle the federal government. In response, the House GOP campaign chief urged them to stop holding in-person town halls.

Democrats seized on that hesitance, organizing their own events as a contrast. National Democratic groups even organized a tour to hold town halls in the districts of GOP Congress members who refused to schedule any themselves.

But the congressional recess kicked off with Schumer’s announcement that he would vote to advance the GOP bill to fund the government. And so congressional Democrats returned home to voters exasperated not just by Republicans, but also by their own party’s leadership.

Two local progressive groups organized “empty chair” town halls to be held later this week in the districts of Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who both helped enact Republicans’ spending bill.

At the town halls that Democrats did hold, plenty of attendees expressed frustration with Trump, Musk and the GOP-controlled Congress. But voters also critiqued the Democratic party, according to a review of video, audio and local news reports of town halls in Arizona, Oregon, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois and Vermont.

Democrats hosting the events fielded the barbs differently.

In Maryland, Ivey initially won over the crowd gathered Tuesday in a high school auditorium when he suggested “it may be time” for Schumer to step aside.

But the event grew more raucous as anger built over Ivey’s repeated pivots to declaring the courts to be the best bulwark against Trump, while looking ahead to the midterms – some 20 months from now – as Democrats’ most efficient tool to thwart the administration.

Barbra Bearden, a recently fired federal employee, tersely told Ivey: “Don’t talk to me about the courts, don’t talk to me about the next election … I came here to find out what my congressman is specifically doing.”

Similar to Ivey, Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) nodded and said “yes” when asked by a town hall attendee if Schumer should “retire or step down.”

In Arizona, when an attendee demanded to know if the senators would support ousting Schumer, Gallego deflected. “We’re focusing on this right now,” he said before turning to address Spanish-speaking voters and media.

Others pleaded with their constituents to stay united.

In Oregon, Wyden said he prepared to field questions about Schumer’s future and rose early in the morning pondering his response. “Trump would love to be able to bait Americans over various distractions and I would just ask please, please don’t fall for it,” he said, declining to directly address whether the minority leader should be deposed.

And in Vermont, when Welch acknowledged fears that a shutdown could make it easier for Musk to continue his “destructive work,” a constituent interrupted to voice skepticism.

“I understand you don’t buy it,” Welch said, later pleading: “We have to get over the fact that we lost in that particular debate and not turn our ally, who just has a reasonable disagreement with us, into the enemy.”

With Congress in recess, Schumer this week has embarked on a charm offensive aimed at improving his public standing.

Yet he is doing so from the comfort of a television studio rather than taking the risk of any close up and sustained encounters with a seething activist base. Citing “security concerns,” Schumer canceled public appearances in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York this week for “Antisemitism in America: A Warning,” his newly released book.

During an appearance on “The View” Tuesday, Schumer sought to not just explain his rationale for backing the Republican-drafted funding measure, but project confidence that he will maintain his grip on leadership of the Senate Democrats.

“When you’re a leader, if you see a real crisis a little bit down the road, your job is to stand up and say, ‘We cannot do that.’ And that’s what I did,” Schumer said.

When host Alyssa Farah Griffin, a Republican, asked if it was time to step down, Schumer was unequivocal in his response.

“When we don’t have a president, we have a lot of leaders,” the embattled Brooklynite said. “We have a lot of really strong talent in the Senate, in the House, in the governors, we have a great bench. But as far as the Senate caucus, of which I’m the leader — I should be the leader.”

That is far from a consensus view within the party. Democratic strategist Aisha Mills suggested the lingering anguish over the funding measure exposed a widening gap between elected officials and the activist base.

“He didn’t have the fight that we really as Democrats wanted and needed him to as a leader,” Mills said of Schumer. “It felt like a bit of a cop out.”

Politics

Byron Donalds says he is not a ‘yes man’ to Trump

Published

12 hours ago

October 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Byron Donalds says he is not a ‘yes man’ to Trump

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Politics

Justice Democrats announce new executive director

Published

1 day ago

October 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The progressive political action committee Justice Democrats has appointed Rev. Hodari Williams as its new executive director. The change sets the organization up to hone a civil rights message ahead of the 2028 election cycle, Williams told Blue Light News.

His appointment, shared first with Blue Light News, comes at a time when self-proclaimed progressives (and socialists) are flooding the scene. The PAC has had its most successful election cycle ever, helping seven candidates — including Donavan McKinney in Michigan, Melat Kiros in Colorado and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York — defeat incumbents in the primaries. While those candidates are heavily favored to win on Election Day, the fates of three other Justice Democrats candidates, including Tennessee’s state Rep. Justin Pearson, remain less certain going into November.

At one point, the group tried to get Williams to run for office. Though he declined, Williams said now is the right time to force change.

“America and its present-day politicians, from my experience, have a high blood pressure of promises and anemia of political courage,” Williams said in an interview, using a common Kenyan political expression. “Right now, JD is producing candidates who have the political courage to deal with the crises that are existing in marginalized and disenfranchised communities, and I want to be a part of that.”

Rev. Hodari Williams is the new executive director of the progressive PAC Justice Democrats.

Williams, 46, was born and raised in Lakewood, New Jersey. His parents were activists and community organizers who raised him on the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement. After graduating from Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina, with his bachelor’s degree, he joined the NAACP as a field organizer for voter rights and empowerment while pursuing his Master’s of Divinity at the Interdenominational Theological Center. In his time with the NAACP, Williams traveled across the Black Belt, where he said he witnessed poverty and inequity up close.

“Civil rights traditionally has been something that people have tried to separate from progressivism … but these movements are inseparable,” said Williams. “What I witnessed in the South as a worker in voter rights and voter empowerment and education, and as a regional representative for the NAACP, was that the conditions that created inequity still existed and needed to be confronted and challenged.”

His work took him to Kenya, where he served as a program coordinator with the Presbyterian Church USA. In Nairobi, he supported the Green Belt Movement’s work against deforestation and its mission to highlight environmental justice as a tool for economic empowerment and self-determination.

Now, as some Black and brown voters express concerns of being tokenized by traditional Democratic candidates, Williams plans to bring his experience working in racial justice circles to his new role.

“I have worked in communities that have borne the brunt of failed promises from the current Democratic leadership,” Williams said. “I have opened the doors of my congregations to politicians and have experienced the absence of those politicians after the elections.”

He continued: “Black communities have become destinations for environmental hazards and data centers. Unemployment has risen. Black federal employees have been targeted. The list goes on. I’ve pastored these people. I’ve prayed with them. I’ve listened to them as they’ve shed tears. Now I’ve decided I want to move from triage work to really transformational work.”

Some of that work will require challenging other Black leaders.

“Unfortunately, many of our Black politicians have become victims of corporate capture, and their voices have been taken by entities like AIPAC,” said Williams, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “They have not really been able to stand for the issues that are affecting the communities that that many of us are fighting for, and JD candidates are free from that, and they’re free to take bold and significant action to move forward legislation.”

But with the 2026 election cycle nearly over, the PAC is already brainstorming how to establish a strong progressive coalition for the 2028 presidential election. That will mean convincing the mainstream Democratic party that Justice Democrats have built a lasting coalition of the party’s base, said Williams.

“We hope that the Democratic Party would see that we’re developing a blueprint to show them how the base is being energized around the issues that are kitchen table issues that people want us to deal with,” said Williams.

“It’s not enough for us just to have a call to defeat a fascist president. We don’t want a fascist president. We want him out, but we also want a vision of what America could look like when affordability, healthcare, civil rights, housing, and livable wages — all of those things are at the top of the political agenda,” he added.

Williams succeeds current executive director and co-founder Alexandra Rojas, who will become president of Justice Democrats’ board and will support Williams as a senior adviser.

Politics

Iowa’s Ashley Hinson slams the savings habits of millennials

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson took a swipe at the savings habits of millennials as she fielded a question Wednesday about Social Security during a Senate campaign debate.

Hinson, the Republican candidate facing off against Democrat state Rep. Josh Turek, was asked about ensuring the solvency of Social Security when she raised the broader prospect of savings by millennials, the demographic consisting of people born from 1981-1996.

She said the country needed to have a “serious conversation” about “how young people are saving money,” as part of the discussion about the future of Social Security.

“We also need to be talking about millennials saving money,” she later added. “Millennials are the worst group of savers in the country right now and have the least amount of savings. So those are ways where I think we can help have a bigger conversation around saving in general, planning for retirement, and making sure we’re all able to experience a robust retirement.”

Hinson faces a tough race in Iowa against Turek amid a difficult political environment for Republicans. Voters are overwhelmingly pessimistic about the state of the economy and their own personal finances, and they support Social Security while being concerned about the program’s future.

Hinson said she would not support cutting benefits and suggested creating a bipartisan commission to present suggestions to Congress to save the program. When pushed on her statement that “all options should be on the table,” she turned her attention to young people.

“I think my dad and I had this discussion when I was in sixth grade, looking at a ledger book and trying to figure out, hey, how are we going to make sure you’re set up for your life?” she said. “So we need to be having a conversation simultaneously to all solutions on the table, to make sure that it can stay solvent, while we’re also talking about, how do we get more young people to save?”

Hinson’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

Turek, when asked about Social Security, said he supports removing the payroll tax cap.

“The best way we can keep this solvent is by taking off the cap,” Turek said. “Let’s make sure that billionaires and large corporations are paying their fair share. That will move the needle in a very serious way to keep Social Security solvent.”

Hinson disagreed. “The only thing I’m hearing from him is that the only solution to everything is to raise taxes,” she said.