Wisconsin Republican faces angry town hall over Trump agenda
by Miriam Waldvogel - 08/01/25 8:49 AM ET
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.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5431684-rep-bryan-steil-town-hall-heckled/
