GOP senator grilled over DeVos vote during town hall
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) faced a raucous town hall on Wednesday, with a visibly angry crowd repeatedly interrupting or heckling him as he faced questions about President Trump and repealing ObamaCare.
One audience member received applause when he told Cassidy that he was “baffled” by the GOP senator’s decision to support Betsy DeVos for Education secretary.
“I asked Mrs. DeVos, ‘Will you enforce the law?’ ‘Absolutely.’ … ‘Do you support public education?’ She goes ‘Absolutely,'” Cassidy told the crowd, amid boos and accusations that DeVos lied to him.
{mosads}Multiple audience members were holding neon signs that read “senator for sale 70K” or “Dump DeVos.”
The Washington Post reported ahead of DeVos’s confirmation hearing that she and her family members had contributed more than $70,000 to Cassidy’s Senate campaign in 2014.
Cassidy appeared to try to explain the donations on Wednesday, saying “clearly folks don’t recognize that if I like school choice and if [the] DeVos family decided to support my political campaign.”
But he was drowned out by audience members yelling “sell out.”
“Folks, it’s against the law for a single individual to give $70,000 [to a campaign],” he maintained.
Audience members also repeatedly interrupted Cassidy as he tried to explain his healthcare replacement legislation that he’s spearheading with fellow Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine).
When Cassidy explained that his bill could allow for more people in his state to be covered compared to ObamaCare, some audience members accused him of lying.
“If you don’t believe me it’s because you haven’t read the bill,” Cassidy fired back.
Cassidy isn’t the only Republican facing voter backlash in his home state. GOP lawmakers have been facing furious crowds at town halls for weeks.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) faced off Tuesday with about 100 Iowans who warned him not to touch ObamaCare and urged him to challenge Trump. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) was also booed and heckled as he tried to explain energy policy during a town hall on Wednesday night.
Cassidy faced questions about Trump on Wednesday, with one audience member yelling that “Trump lies” and another interrupting an answer on education policy to ask “what about Russia?”
Audience members also repeatedly chanted “shame” when Cassidy arrived at the meeting roughly half an hour late. He noted that he was late because he was viewing tornado damage.
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