Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) was heckled and booed during a Thursday town hall in his district over a slate of GOP policies, including immigration, the “big, beautiful bill,” and President Trump’s tariffs.
Steil faced particular criticism of the administration’s aggressive deportation campaign, drawing jeers from the crowd as he attempted to answer.
“What I view is the moral hazard created by the Biden administration by allowing the U.S.-Mexico border to remain unsecure,” he began, before pausing and shrugging his shoulders as the audience began to boo.
An audience member later in the town hall referred to Alligator Alcatraz, the recently constructed detention center in the Florida Everglades, as a “concentration camp.”
Other audience members went after Steil for being too closely aligned with Trump.
“I am so disappointed in how you represent us, as the citizens of Walworth County. Southeast Wisconsin is not represented by you,” one man said. “President Trump seems to run southeast Wisconsin, through you.”
The event’s moderator stepped in at multiple points to attempt to quiet the crowd, CNN reported, and called out a specific audience member for being “very obnoxious and very disrespectful.”
Angry voters at GOP town halls also made headlines during the House’s last recess in March, with constituent ire often focused on cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The backlash escalated to a point where House Republican leaders urged their members to avoid live, in-person town halls. Republicans have also accused Democrats of organizing the public pushback.
Steil also faced questions about Trump’s tariff policies as new, elevated rates were set to kick in Friday (the town hall took place before the president announced a series of new tariffs would go into effect next week).
“I would like to know what dire economic circumstances put Trump in position of throwing tariffs on over 190 countries,” one voter said, drawing cheers and clapping from the audience.
Steil defended the policies as forcing other countries to treat the U.S. fairly in trade.
Steil, who represents a district just south of Milwaukee once held by former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R), wrote on X after the “listening session” that he was committed to holding future events.
“Despite a handful of individuals attempting to disrupt the discussion, we had a great dialogue about the issues that matter most,” he wrote.
Last week, Steil was the target of a demonstration in which a group of elderly protesters left what appeared to be a cardboard coffin in front of his home, chastizing him for supporting the “big, beautiful bill.”
Democrats have hoped to use the massive legislation package, which cuts Medicaid and other social services along with extending tax cuts, as a cudgel against Republicans in the midterms.
