Actually, I was paid to attend a Democratic rep's town hall last weekend

Miami Herald

02-07-2025

The best thing about the town hall meeting that drew about 1,200 people to a Wichita State University auditorium on Sunday was that everybody got a check from George Soros to attend.
Of course, I just made that up. Or more accurately, I stole it from crazy right-wingers who made it up.
But there are apparently a whole lot of Trumpers out there who believe that kind of drivel, and can't accept the fact that you don't need to pay people to question the competence, morality and/or motives of Donald Trump and his minions in Congress.
Believe me, they're more than happy to do it for free.
The event at hand featured Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost holding a town hall meeting in Wichita, the heart of the Kansas 4th Congressional District, a red block on the political landscape currently held by GOP representative-for-life Ron Estes.
Estes doesn't do town halls. So Frost (live) and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut (via Zoom) stepped in and did one for him.
As usual, whenever a large crowd gathers and fails to heap praise on Donald Trump and his party, accusations fly in from the right wing that his critics are paid actors.
The Wichita event was no exception, as evidenced by a slew of comments — ranging from the merely stupid to the downright insulting — gleaned from Frost's post of a video clip from the event on X:
How much you have to pay them to attend, Maxwell?
Paid by George Soros.
I noticed that it was 90+% retired old women+ a few old men, which looks STRIKINGLY similar to the exact demographic of the 'paid protesters' at many of the protests that were proven to have been mostly filled with those paid to attend. What's it called….astroturfing MAX
Wow, that must be one expensive rent-a-mob, Maxipad.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
So at the risk of giving the conspiracy nuts more ammunition, I have a confession to make.
I was paid to attend the town hall.
That's right. I admit it. I get a deposit in my bank account every two weeks to attend such events, take copious notes and then write about them for The Wichita Eagle and Kansas.com. Sunday's town hall was one of those events, and while I don't get overtime, I'm planning to take a comp day off later this week.
I can also now disclose that in late February, I was paid to attend an event where Rep. Estes addressed a meeting of Sedgwick County Republican Party precinct committee men and women.
And I'm not the only one cashing in.
I can confirm Eagle photographer Jaime Green also was paid to go to Sunday's town hall.
I saw what appeared to be reporters from TV stations KSN and KWCH at the event. I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate they were paid to be there too.
But wait … the plot thickens.
I spoke with Noah Taylor of Leading Kansas, the group that hosted the event. It turns out the photo/video and sound crews were also paid — as were the guys who ran the metal detectors at the door.
'I guess WSU had a guy who watches over the building,' said Taylor, in a stunning admission, assuming that guy gets paid to come in on a Sunday when somebody rents out the auditorium.
Of course, for the 1,200 or so ordinary folks who attended the town hall, there were no checks from Soros or anybody else, and there won't be any coming in the mail — there never are.
Those participants came as concerned citizens to find out what Trump and Company are up to, and how it might affect their lives. They put those questions to Frost, because Estes wouldn't give them the time of day.
I can understand why Trump thinks ordinary Americans questioning his erratic and authoritarian behavior must be paid shills. The man is a notorious narcissist with an ego the size of Mount Rushmore, which is where his devout sycophants think he belongs.
What I really don't understand is how so many other people can buy into the lie, or at least say they do.
That's beyond perplexing.