House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Monday pushed back on President Trump’s claim that the outcry congressional Republicans have faced at recent town halls has come from paid protesters.
“Another day, another lie from these people who are out of control. I’m told that Donald Trump, Mike Johnson and the extreme MAGA Republicans are claiming that Democrats are sending paid protesters into their town hall meetings. What’s wrong with y’all? What’s wrong with y’all?” Jeffries said in a video posted to X.
“We don’t need to send paid protesters into your town hall meetings. The American people are with us,” he added. “All across the country, people are rising up to push back against the assault on the economy, the assault on hard-working families, the assault on our democracy and the assault on Medicaid. We don’t need paid protesters, bro, the American people are with us.”
Republican lawmakers dealt with angry crowds at town hall events during the congressional recess, notably on the effort by the Trump administration to cut thousands of government jobs.
Trump on Monday dismissed the protests, writing on his Truth Social platform that “Paid ‘troublemakers’ are attending Republican Town Hall Meetings. It is all part of the game for the Democrats, but just like our big LANDSLIDE ELECTION, it’s not going to work for them!”
Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) also claimed demonstrators at the recent town halls were “paid” by Democrats.
“The videos you saw of the town halls were for paid protesters in many of those places,” Johnson told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “These are Democrats who went to the events early and filled up the seats.”
The Hill has reached out to the White House and Johnson’s office for comment.
