Doug LaMalfa faces hostile crowd at town hall meeting in his own congressional district

USA Today

5 hours ago

Even though he was deep inside his bright red congressional district, U.S. Rep. Doug LaMalfa faced a mostly hostile crowd Monday during his first North State town hall meeting in several years.
Residents at LaMalfa's town hall meeting in Red Bluff peppered him with a wide range of questions and comments on such topics as immigration, redistricting, the Epstein files, support for Israel, tariffs, wildfires, climate change, forest management and changes to Medicaid.
Many times he was shouted down by members of the audience, who held up green cards to show approval or red pieces of paper for disapproval.
"You just embarrass yourself when you act like that," LaMalfa said after several people yelled out "You're a liar," and "Tell the truth!"
It was the second rowdy crowd the Republican lawmaker faced Monday. He held a similar town hall earlier in the day in Chico, where members of the audience shouted obscenities at him.
Jill Smith, a lifelong Red Bluff resident, said the crowd of about 350 people was upset because it had been years since LaMalfa had held a public meeting in Tehama County.
"All these people are angry. They have concerns. I have concerns. I could vote Democrat or Republican as long as I think they're doing something good for our country. But right now I don't see that happening with this, and that's why everybody's angry," Smith said.
LaMalfa was criticized for many of his votes in Congress, including his support in 2021 not to certify the 2020 election that ushered in Joe Biden as president and this year for backing President Trump and his many executive orders, which some on Monday said usurped power from Congress.
"You made a choice to violate your oath to the Constitution," Max Walter of Redding said, referring to LaMalfa's vote not to certify the 2020 presidential election. "And every day since then, you have violated your oath. But you have loyalty, you have loyalty to a felon (Trump), to somebody who mocks people in wheelchairs, to someone who mocks women."
On questions about tariffs, LaMalfa said he supported them, claiming they would bring jobs back to the U.S. He also said he supported release of the Epstein files, but wanted to make sure the names of victims aren't released.
Roy Reddin asked if LaMalfa supported the type of congressional redistricting that is proposed in Texas.
"Currently the Texas legislature is very close to to an epic gerrymandering where they are going to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters by realigning their districts. So my question to you, is in two parts: Do you support what the Texas legislature is doing and why should California not do the same thing for five seats, one of which could be yours," Reddin said.
Although redistricting congressional districts happen at the state level, LaMalfa said he opposed attempts at redistricting such as what is happening in Texas, where the state legislature has proposed redrawing congressional district maps.
The redistricting plan in Texas could lead to the state picking up an additional five Republican seats in Congress, helping the GOP retain a majority in the House next year.
But other states, including California, have vowed to re-draw congressional district boundaries, if Texas goes through with its plan.
Not everyone was critical of LaMalfa. One woman said she was an immigrant and she supports LaMalfa because he backs the Trump administration's actions against undocumented immigrants.
"He's an honest Christian man and he's fighting for us," one woman said.
One woman who spoke out said many of the issues that came up Monday were moral issues that transcended a political climate that has become too divisive.
"I'm afraid to stand up for my rights because I might get shot," she told LaMalfa, citing the shootings of state legislators in Minnesota this summer.