Stefanik faces hostile crowd at forum
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. >> Angry reaction to President Trump’s Obamacare repeal and replace bill dominated Monday’s taping of a TV town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro.
Facing respectful but hostile questioning, jeers, heckling and applause for every shot at Trump, Stefanik closed the nearly 90-minute event by listing all the ways she does not agree with the reality TV celebrity businessman-turnedpresident.
“I have differed with the president on a number of is-
sues,” she declared, responding to a questioner who criticized her for supporting a “zenophobic and misogynistic president, and that’s terrifying to a lot of us.”
“I am an independent voice for this district, and both when I was running and since the election, there are areas where I disagree with the president, and I’ll list a few of them for you tonight,” she said.
She said Trump should “absolutely” release his taxes and keep White House visitor logs a public record and disagreed with the executive order restricting immigrations that critics say targets Muslims. She also disavowed Trump’s remarks disparaging the NATO alliance.
“He is a non- traditional president,” she said, prompting scattered laughter in the audience. “I think many of us never anticipated how this last election would go, including myself, but look at the outcome in this [21st Congressional] district: President Trump won this district by 11 points, so it is important for me to hear this [criticism], but it is also important to continue to listen to friends and neighbors in this district because people were frustrated with the status quo and he is certainly shaking things up.”
Protesters gathered outside the Mountain Lake PBS studios, and the comments section of the station’s webpage about Monday’s event included vitriol directed at Stafenik. The town hall was scheduled to be broadcast at 9 p.m. Tuesday and will also be available on the station’s website, www.mountainlake.org.
A number of questioners told stories about family healthcare and insurance challenges. One woman said her family’s private insurance was cut off when her husband died in an accident, leaving her scrambling to figure out how to pay for brain surgery she was due to undergo a month later. She’s now on Medicaid, which is slated for cuts under the Trump plan.
A woman from Queensbury said the monthly chemotherapy bill for her husband with leukemia is $11,100.
“Without this medicine, he will be dead. … They know the choice is pay or die,” she said, referring to the drug manufacturer. “It is extortion.”
Several speakers sharply criticized Stefanik’s vote for the replace- and- repeal bill, saying it will deprive New York of billions of dollars in federal Medicaid assistance. Some of loudest jeering came after a woman condemned Stafanik for taking campaign money from drug companies, linking the money to her opposition to singlepayer healthcare modeled on the Medicare program for the elderly.
“I can see why you would reject even the thought of any discussion about the single-payer systems,” said the woman, who urged higher taxes on the rich to pay for healthcare.
“I disagree with Sen. [Bernie] Sanders that single payer is the best solution, and let me tell you why,” Stefanik replied. “In our district, we have the highest number of veterans of any other Congressional district in New York state. On a weekly basis since I’ve taken office, the No. 1 issue that I hear from constituents is problems with the VA, so my concern when you have a government-run healthcare, we’ve seen it doesn’t work when it comes to the VA,” she said.
“Then fix it,” the woman shot back.
Stefanik, 32, made history as the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in 2014 and is now serving her second two-year term. She is originally from the Albany area but ran in the sprawling district where her family has owned a second home for decades, succeeding Democrat Bill Owens, who did not seek re- election. The district includes parts of Saratoga and Herkimer counties and all of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Warren and Washington counties.
She is a graduate of Albany Academy and Harvard University and was an aide in the administration of President George W. Bush. She is considered to be a moderate Republican and has been under the gun since Trump’s election from constituents who have demanded public town hall meetings where they can question her about Trump and the GOP control of Congress.
She has resisted such calls, however, favoring smaller gatherings. Monday’s audience was filled through an online lottery conducted by the public television station, and most of the nearly twodozen questions Stefanik took expressed dismay and anxiety about the direction of the nation with the Trump- led GOP in control.