Democratic Rep Gets Booed and Heckled by Constituents While Announcing Impeachment Support
If this is the sound that swing district Democrats are hearing now, they better be ready to get some really bad news come November.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a freshman Democrat who won a midterm seat in a Michigan congressional district President Donald Trump carried in 2016, stood before her constituents Monday to try to explain why she now wants to oust the same president many of them voted for.
It didn’t go well.
Rep. Elissa Slotkin has announced her support for impeachment.
Her constituents are not happy.@RepSlotkin is one of the 31 Democrats that represent districts that President Trump won in 2016.
Voters will remember this in 2020! pic.twitter.com/LzmJEN0ISw
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) December 16, 2019
Of course, all members of Congress should expect to catch an earful from their constituents at public meetings — and Slotkin has certainly faced this kind of thing before. The essence of American democracy is for office-holders to be accountable to the people they represent.
But Slotkin’s experience is important to take into account. As USA Today noted, she is one of 31 Democrats in the House who were elected in districts that backed Trump in the 2016 presidential election.
It was their victories that gave Democrats control of the lower house and the power to mount the current impeachment drive. That effort is ostensibly driven by Trump’s dealings with Ukraine but is really just a partisan attack on the man who defeated Hillary Clinton three years ago.
As Michigan’s Rep. Rashida Tlaib — like Slotkin, a freshman Democrat — memorably declared on her very first day in office on Jan. 3, “we’re going to go in there and impeach the mother—er.”
Well, impeaching is what they’re doing, and Democrats like Slotkin are stuck trying to convince voters there really is a good reason to throw out the man they chose to be president.
Clearly, as NBC News reported, quite a few who attended Slotkin’s meeting in Rochester, Michigan, on Monday weren’t ready to buy it.
And on social media, the reaction was pretty negative too.
Never trust a DemocRAT! If their lips are moving they’re lying! They never planned to work with @realDonaldTrump to get anything done.
— Hello Kar (@Hello_Kar_) December 17, 2019
It’s so clear she’s tuned out her constituents..she doesn’t give a rat’s behind what they think. She even says “I’m just going to keep rolling here..” But what Dems don’t realize is the American voter has had enough of the lies & deception..the political landscape is changing
— Julia Burrell (@republiclvr) December 17, 2019
I thought Representatives were supposed to represent the view of their district, not their own personal opinions. She should be voted out in 2020 if she doesn’t care about her district.
— Frank Vross (@frank20603) December 16, 2019
Obviously, she would rather do the will of her DNC backers than the will of the people. Clearly, she will be out of a job come election!
— “All Elite” Aaron Starcher (@AaronDX2K) December 16, 2019
Democrats and the national media are likely to dismiss scenes like this. Of course, those who are discontented are more likely to show up for a meeting with a government figure than those who are happy.
And if Slotkin won an election in the first place, she must have some popularity with her voters, right?
That’s true. But midterm election turnout isn’t the same as general election turnout.
And when the 2020 vote rolls around, Democrats like Slotkin aren’t just going to be trying to win over the electorate of 2018, when liberals were energized nationwide by their loathing of Trump. They’re going to have to face many of the same voters who actually put Trump in office but might not have turned out for the 2018 midterm.
That group is not going to be happy with the party that did everything in its power to overturn the result of that 2016 vote.
Slotkin heard from those voters at that meeting on Monday. Other vulnerable Democrats will likely be hearing from them at the polls on Nov. 3 next year.
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