Transcript of Nebraska Town Hall Erupts Over Trump's Agenda New

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When are you going to call up President Trump before he bankrupts this country?

Thank you.

Donald Trump was getting loudly booed in Nebraska during a town hall. MAGA Republican Congress member Mike Flood at least showed up for a town hall. He's the Congress member from Nebraska's 1st Congressional District. He showed up for a town hall and his constituents were pissed.

Pissed.

They were pissed at Donald Trump taking a Qatari jet. They were pissed at Donald Trump covering up a child sex trafficking ring. They were pissed at Donald Trump cutting SNAP benefits, taking away people's healthcare. Oh, they were livid at the disastrous bill that Mike Flood was like, oh, don't we all love the big beautiful bill? And everybody was like, no, do you realize how much that is torturing us? And his constituents share these heartfelt stories about how where people and their families were literally dying because they've lost their healthcare and their lives have been ruined by the so-called big beautiful bill, which is really the deadly bill, and Donald Trump and MAGA policies. Folks, this was a compelling town hall. I watched the full thing and I got you some of the, I think, most significant clips right here that I want to share with you. The first thing I want to share with you, just so you can see the passion of some of the people right Take a watch for yourself as you can hear just how angry people were.

Play this clip.

When are you going to call up President Trump before he bankrupts this country?

Okay, then the question started coming in about the Epstein files and Mike Flood. How could you be okay with a literal coverup of a child sex trafficking ring that Donald Trump is engaged in here?

Play this clip.

Kim, Fremont Epstein files at your Norfolk Hall. You just repeated my information, never answered my question. Everything was supposed to be released last December. U.S. District Judge Sullivan ordered Trump's blanche DOJ to unredact a series of emails that have been sent out and were blackened out. So we know Trump is in the Epstein files. Very powerful friends, he said, would be hurt. And Trump's name is in it more than anyone else. These victims have waited 30 years for this government to do something. So why did you and none of your fellow GOP attend the survivors' hearing to listen to their testimony? And why do you continue to protect the pedophiles and Trump's DOJ as they continue to break the law?

Well, first of all, you should know that Any victim that has wanted to get in and talk to me about an issue related to the Epstein files has an open door, number one. Number two, I voted to release the Epstein files. Number three, I, you know, you say that you know what's in the Epstein files. I know what's been unredacted to the extent it's been reported. I can tell you a number of colleagues in my own party and others on the Judiciary Committee are dealing with this. I'm on the Financial Services Committee, so we don't deal with this issue directly. But listen, the Congress passed a law unanimously. The senators passed it with unanimous consent. We had, I think, 430-some votes in the House. The president signed it. It is the law of the land. There are—

Very good.

Next, next question.

Then he was asked additional questions about what evidence do you have whatsoever about so-called election fraud that you need to do these voter suppression bills? Show us what evidence. And Mike Flood's like, well, there are a lot of people who are concerned about the outcomes of these elections. Well, then the people in the crowd were like, because It's people like you and Donald Trump who keep on lying and spreading disinformation about the 2020 election, about mail-in votes, saying that illegal immigrants votes and using that pejorative term to refer to migrants who are here, most of whom are working hard and paying taxes and who are here living productive lives before ICE and Border Patrol Gestapo destroy their lives.

Here, play this clip.

The Republicans own the White House, the Senate, and Congress. Where is the election fraud? And I want you to tell all these people, all the great people of Nebraska right here, right now, what evidence you have that there was fraud in the elections.

Before you go— before you go to that, can you tell me your name and where you're from? We needed to start there.

Ben Omaha.

Okay.

Excuse me.

Next question, sir.

We only got an hour.

When are you going to call up President Trump before he bankrupts this country?

Thank you.

Well, as to the first question, From the day I became a candidate for this office in January of 2022, I have never said anything but the following: Joe Biden was duly elected president in the election that he won in 2020. I have never argued that there was, uh, an inaccurate result. And I always recognized Joe Biden was our president. So I am not a congressman that has ever made that claim. And I do know this. I do know this, sir. So here's what I— here's what I do know. I do know that there are a lot of Americans. There are a lot of Americans that don't trust our election system. And I don't think it's too much to ask to show an ID when you vote. I supported voter ID when it was on the ballot box. I don't think it's too much to ask people to show their ID when they vote. And I think that is at the core of what we want. We want a nation where we can respect the results of the election. All right.

Next.

Okay.

When the people were livid about the disastrous budget bill, the one big beautiful bill, you can hear the loud boos against Mike Flood as he starts to brag about the bill here.

Play this clip.

This is what are you going to do for benefits for all people with disabilities?

Well, Under the One Big Beautiful Bill, we protected— we protected a system that if it had gone unchecked, it would not have been long-term available for the very people that are the most vulnerable: the developmentally disabled, the persistent mentally ill, people that are of advanced age. We protected Medicaid in a bipartisan common sense way, that was the result.

Okay, next.

And then there were a lot of questions about Mike Flood and the Republicans proudly talking about their wealthy billionaire donors, their AIPAC donors, their Epstein-class donors. And Mike Flood's like, I love my Israel donors, I love my Netanyahu donors. And then the crowd just booed him incessantly.

Here, play this clip.

Okay.

Next question. You need to, you need to read the room. There's not a lot of love for the big beautiful bill in this room. And you don't represent me, the average American. You rep—

wait, wait, wait.

I'm having trouble hearing him. I'm having trouble hearing you.

You don't represent me, the average American. You represent rich donors and AIPAC. The one big beautiful bill cut $4.5 trillion in taxes to corporations and the wealthy. And guess what those corporations do with those tax cuts? They buy back stocks and fire their employees so they can spike their stock prices. That doesn't help me, the average American. That helps the big oil companies. So maybe instead of watching, watching out for somebody that's on SNAP, maybe they want to buy a Coke. Maybe instead you look at the big oil companies And you stop them from buying.

Come here. Very good.

First of all, great respect to everybody that has come here tonight. But I also know that I work for the whole district. I work for all 700,000 people that live in the 1st Congressional District. And with all due respect, sir, there's a lot of people that appreciate the no tax on tips, the no tax on Social Security, and the no tax on overtime. There are a lot of people that appreciate the increase in the low-income affordable tax credits to build more affordable housing in places like Lincoln and Fremont and Bellevue and Columbus. There are a lot of people that appreciate the ability to transition the farm from one generation to the next with the permanent $15 million cap that we have on the federal estate tax. There's a lot of things in that bill that make common sense that a lot of people, both Republicans and Democrats, appreciate. I'm sorry you aren't as fond of it, but I know that a lot of people I work for that may be watching this tonight are very thankful for it. Let me tell you something. You talked about AIPAC. I want to be very clear. We have no greater ally in the Middle East than Israel.

We have No greater ally than Israel. And I will tell you, I was there shortly after the, the animals from Hamas attacked the innocent civilians in the kibbutz in southern Israel. Ladies and gentlemen, they massacred babies. They burned them in ovens. They shot children in front of their parents. They raped women and children. What happened in Israel was horrific. If that had happened on our soil, we as Americans would rise up and eliminate that threat. And that's exactly what the Israelis have done today because of our partnership with the Israeli government. There's not much left of Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis. We are cleaning up the Middle East. We are cleaning up the Middle East. And I am not going to stand here and say anything other than Iran for 50 years has vowed death to America. If they got their hands on a nuclear weapon, or a dirty bomb, they would use it on us. We need to finish the job. We cannot put up with a regime that in the last 12 months has killed 45,000 of their own people. That is wrong. We have to have moral clarity here. I support Israel.

Okay.

Here was a question that, that touched my heart. You know, one of his constituents are like, you're killing people in my family. You're killing us. We can't afford healthcare, so we're not able to see the doctor. So there are people in my family who are dying because they can't even afford a checkup right now. Mike Flood and you despicable MAGAs.

Here, play this clip.

I've got family and friends that are dying. I've had a couple of funerals just in the past couple of weeks. I've got another death in the family this week. They're dying. They have high medical costs, as do I. Just so far this year, I've racked up almost $8,000 out of pocket. You continue to approve dollars to Trump's scams and the big ugly bill. It takes away from constituents' healthcare, and they die early. My little sister died at 46 with liver cancer because she did not have insurance? Why do you continue to help the rich get richer while your constituents, who I am too, whether I'm a Democrat, Republican, or independent, you need to help us constituents so that we can afford food, housing.

First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your family. I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I don't want anybody to die. I, in fact, want just the opposite. Last year, I'm very proud to say that I supported getting the state almost $1 billion of more money that will go to Nebraska hospitals. I checked the numbers before I came here tonight. Bellevue Medical Center through UNMC will get an additional $11 million this year— not tied to any fees for service. That's on top of their reimbursements under their private and their public pay. $11 million more dollars to help them balance the books. St. Elizabeth's, I think it's something like $28 million. Faith Regional in Norfolk, $12 million. Columbus Hospital, this will round $10 million. West Point Hospital, $3.5 million. This is the largest influx of cash coming into Nebraska hospitals in 20 years. Secondly, as Main Street Caucus Chairman, I personally worked with the White House and the members of the Senate and our delegation to get a $50 billion Rural Health Care Transformation Fund set up that will send $218 million. Do we have work to do? Next, let me tell you some areas that I think we need to really focus on.

Dialysis. Did you know that the dialysis unit in Columbus, Nebraska is not operating? They can't find nurses. Shadron, same thing. We need to get that fixed. I share this with you because I am attuned to what a lot of the needs are in this district, and I am worried about access to dialysis for those kidney patients that need it. Very good.

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Questions about Donald Trump's behavior. How could you be okay with Trump's behavior like this? Are you okay with that?

Here, play this clip.

Um, first of all, when you mentioned, uh, Israel and, and Hamas and the, the terrible act by Hamas, you failed to mention the war crimes that Israel did in Gaza.

And Netanyahu is for war crimes.

So just so we know that, in President Trump's July 4th speech at Mount Rushmore, he stated, stated Democrats are godless communists. Trump has also called Democrats human garbage, the enemy within, and traitorous. I want to know, do you agree with any of these statements made by Donald Trump? And do you pledge to us you will stand up and speak up when President Trump does something or says something that is harmful to our country or to our fellow Americans, and that you put country above your party and your—

Sir, at my last town hall, I made it very clear. This is the last town hall. It's when they were discussing having this fund for victims of political harassment by federal law enforcement. And I said, very clearly as the first member of the House Republicans that I didn't want one penny of any fund going to anybody that was a January 6th insurrectionist. Not one penny. And when I see something that I disagree with, I am vocal about it. To your point about July 4th, I did not listen to the president's remarks because I was in I was at Norfolk, Nebraska, raising a huge flag 122 feet up in the air, celebrating men and women that have died in service of their country right before I watched a huge fireworks display.

More questions about ICE and Border Patrol Gestapo killing people, torturing people on the streets, throwing people in concentration camps that are being opened up in the United States.

Here, play this clip.

You've made a big deal about this administration making us all safer, but I have never felt more unsafe in this country than I have in the last 18 months. We now have jackbooted thugs on our streets acting outside of the law without standardized uniforms, wearing masks, who won't identify themselves, who do not present judicial warrants, pulling people off the street. And we can't even identify whether or not they're actually federal agents because They drive around in civilian vehicles. They act outside the law. You are putting everyone in this country, including our uniformed officers who are acting within the law, in mortal danger. So my question to you is, how do we as citizens, if you will not uphold the law, defend ourselves? Do you uphold our right to use the Second Amendment?

I do support your Second Amendment right. Listen, violent crime is down. Ask the people of Washington, D.C., how much safer Washington, D.C. is today compared to a year ago. Violent crime is down in American cities. Violent crime is down in New York City. A lot of people that came here that were committing crimes have either been incarcerated or deported. The numbers speak for themselves.

Okay, well, then Mike Flood tried to be like, well, you know, there's a major problem with immigrants voting. And people like, what are you talking about? You know, people have to be lawfully here to vote. What do you mean immigrants voting? Why are you lying? Why are you lying, man? Why can't you all just be freaking normal? There are so many issues that we need to be dealing with, and all you want to do is lie and attack immigrants. It's heinous.

Here, play this clip.

There are so many benefits from having, having, having trust in the process. Listen, we live in a state that has seen, in my opinion, very little election fraud. There are states in the nation where illegal immigrants are encouraged to vote. There are states in this nation where people who are illegal are voting. In the state of California, they are still counting votes 3 or 4 weeks after the election. That is really a problem. But here's the deal. What I would love to do— we all have to remain calm. And this is one of those issues that there's obviously disagreement on. But as Americans, as Americans, we have to find a way through this. We have to both trust our elections and we have to live together. We are in this together. So, all right, next question.

And here is a question about the Qatari jet. And then Mike Flood's like, well, I guess it belongs to the taxpayers. Why do we have the freaking President of the United States flying around in Qatari jets? With the United States, why is he flying around in a Qatari jet? And he's gonna steal that Qatari jet and throw it in his fake presidential library, which is really like a He says he's going to build a skyscraper and a hotel and call it his library and then throw a Qatari jet. What the hell are we talking about here?

Play this clip.

Will your support— will your support having Donald Trump pay for the upgrades to the airplane given to him by Qatar since he gets to keep it?

That airplane, as I understand it, belongs to the United States government. It was given to the United States government, is being flown by U.S. government employees in the commission of actual U.S. government business. There is no provision in our law that any judge would see fit to give that to any citizen, notwithstanding who they are, unless that individual was the acting or current president of the United States. Now, it has been the custom of some presidents to have an Air Force One, uh, be at their presidential library, but certainly not one that's that new and that nice. Uh, that will, that will be used by the next president of the United States, whoever that is, in 2 years. And let me say this: I don't care whether the next president of the United States is a Democrat or Republican. For their safety, I want whoever that is from whatever party to have reliable transportation, a safe place to live, and the ability to conduct their business as president of the United States. That goes for whoever gets the job. And I have a feeling that all of you want the same. We do not want our president to be hurt in any way.

Not only is it bad for the institution of the presidency, it's bad for our forward projection of power around the world. That's why I support support the Secret Service having the resources they need to keep whoever the president is safe.

And this one really touched my heart, was a father who was also a caretaker for his son, who's a person with disabilities. And he was saying to Mike Flynn, I want you to look at my son right now. Your policies hurt my son. Watch this.

Let's play.

Congressman, my name is Dominic and this is my son Will. Uh, Congressman, 27— for 27 years, Olmsted has protected the civil rights of people with disabilities by ensuring they can receive services in their homes, communities, instead of institutions. The DOJ's recent interpretation weakens those protections and risks emboldening states to reduce community-based services. We are already seeing concerns here in Nebraska through Governor Pillen's Medicaid waiver changes, including service definition changes, and the NRI assessment process, the families fear will reduce needed supports. Congressman Don Bacon supports the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act, HR 9401. Do you believe people with disabilities should have the right to remain in their homes, and will you commit to, to protecting HCBS and the civil rights protections established by Olmstead?

That's a very, that's a very good question. So yes, I do support Olmsted, and when we were going through the changes at the Beatrice State Developmental Center, that's when I got real familiar with that case law. And I think we made great progress. I will tell you, and you probably know this better than I do, to Jim Pillon's credit, he's the first governor in my lifetime that was able to eliminate the DD waiting list. At least that was a couple months ago. I remember the news came out. I watched them talk about it. Ultimately, the state legislature is is going to decide what the resources are that are going to the developmental disability program. I don't think there's anyone in America, Republican or Democrat, that doesn't want your son to live in the least restrictive, most productive, safest environment. I'm speaking on behalf of Republicans and Democrats. They see you, they see your son. We want him to lead the best life he can live. And Nebraska in the last couple of years has made some strides there. I will say, 10 years ago it was really hard with some of the state budget stuff there.

As to the bill that you talked about, it's a really good sign to me that Don Bacon likes it. I will take a look at it. I will have Evan or Curt in Washington put it on my next review, and you can call my office in 2 weeks and get an answer as to whether or not I'm gonna cosign it or vote I will vote for the bill. Uh, you can hold me to that. And, uh, our district director is here somewhere. She will get your number and we can even call you, uh, before that if I decide to sign on or if I choose not to sign on. Thank you.

Very good.

Now, then the next question talked about Trump's erratic and impulsive behavior. And then Mike Flood, you know, tried to be like, oh, well, I want to talk about the person who asked the question before me whose son You know, you thank you for taking care of your son because you save, you save a lot of us a lot of money by doing that. That's your reaction to seeing that situation saving money. Why is everything with all of these MAGAs? Money, money, money, money, this money that you're saving us money. Did you see what we just saw right there? That was a father with his son. Who is a person with severe disabilities, obviously trying to live the best life that he can under circumstances that are hard to even fathom, but trying to enjoy life and trying to get by. And people like you and Trump and you Epstein-class psychos, sickos are out there hurting people like that. Shame on you and shame on all these MAGAs for doing that.

Here, play this clip.

Trump has proven to be impulsive, unpredictable, and violent. Are these qualities you want to see in a leader?

Hang on a second. Before I go to that question, I want to say one more thing to this dad and his son. Thank you, sir, for your commitment to your son and for not only being an advocate for him, but being there for him. I think when Americans see that kind of love between a father and a son, that's what we all aspire to. And I would be missing the opportunity to say thank you, because if you weren't there, not only would it create a less positive environment, it would also cost a lot more. And we should be thanking you in more ways than one. For what you're doing. And we should— and by the way, that's not political. That's just on behalf of somebody, you know, like everybody here may disagree on something, but we all somewhere, even I, have a heart, right?

So let's—

all right, so let's go to the question here. Listen, obviously there are personality differences between me and our president. I grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska. I was a Cub Scout, you know, I went to college, I went to law school, I've worked as an attorney, I work in broadcasting. I do my job. I'm the one person I can control. And when I go to work, I treat people with respect. I try to. I'm not perfect. But I hold these town halls because I owe you this. You are the people I work for. I owe it to you. And so I also know that you're not going to like everything I say, but I owe you an answer. I also want you to know that I've gone to these things, I process what I've heard, and I have changed my mind. I have seen issues a little differently. That's part of doing the job, right? President Trump is unconventional, very unconventional. But I will say this, he has been the same guy since the day he walked on that stage in 2014. He has been the same person. And Americans get to choose who their president is.

And while you can take issue with the way he communicates, he has made a lot of very good changes that needed to be made in this country. Our nation is safer. It is growing. Taxes are coming down. Working-class families are getting a break. We're building affordable housing. We increased the low-income affordable tax credits. We're We're working on bringing down prescription drug pricing. So I think it's important that we take the big view here.

Then there were some additional questions about Donald Trump enriching himself at the expense of everybody else.

Let's play this clip.

Why do you continue to support the administration that breaks the law or ignores the law while making billions at our expense.

As I have stated at every one of my town halls, I firmly believe in the rule of law. I grew up respecting the rule of law. I went to law school. I took an oath under the Constitution as a member of the Bar Association under the Nebraska Supreme Court and the federal district court.

And there you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Thank you so much for watching everybody. Thank you.

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