As President Donald Trump and Elon Musk run roughshod over the Constitution as they work to unilaterally dismantle the federal government, Republican members of Congress are getting an earful from outraged constituents at town hall events around the country.
Rather than trying to justify the Trump administration's recklessness to angry voters, Republicans are simply refusing to hold events and blaming the hostility on "paid protesters."
Rep. Diana Harshbarger was the latest GOP representative to confront a vocal citizenry during a contentious town hall in her district in Tennessee, which she claimed was "totally manufactured" by progressive organizations to make it look like red districts are upset about Trump's policies.
"It's totally manufactured," Harshbarger said during an appearance on "Washington Watch with Tony Perkins" on Monday. "We know for a fact that a lot of the Move On [and] the George Soros organizations are causing them to come to these really red districts. ... When they show up, they just want to disrupt."
"They want to scream over you and they want to talk about things that have no relevance whatsoever," she added. "It's meant to make red districts look like that they are upset with the president is doing and what Elon Musk and DOGE is doing. It's just for optics. That's all it is. It's just for optics."
Harshbarger made an appearance on "The Todd Starnes Show" on Monday as well, where she said that she knows that the people who showed up at her town hall are not actually residents of her district because they had purple hair and nose rings.
"They were probably paid Soros or MoveOn.org protesters," she said. "These people were not constituents and they are showing up in very red districts to make a scene, to start talking over anybody who has legitimate questions to make it seem like, 'Hey, even red district disagree with what the president and Elon Musk is doing.'"
"It was just a show and those people don't live in East Tennessee. Are you kidding?" she continued. "They had purple hair, teal hair. I've never seen them in my life. So yeah, they're paid protesters."
"Nose rings do not fly in East Tennessee," Harshbarger added. "Every now and again you'll see one, but Lord have mercy. No, they're not from my area."
