Nebraska Republican faces heckles and boos at town hall over Trump cuts and Epstein

The Guardian

a day ago

A Republican congressman from Nebraska faced boos, chants of 'vote him out' and questions about the Trump administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation files.
In what could be a preview of what Republicans up for re-election in the 2026 congressional midterms might face, Mike Flood was consistently heckled throughout the town hall. He also faced questions about immigration, cuts to Medicaid, and Donald Trump's firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Erika McEntarfer after a July employment report that was worse than expected and job growth numbers that were revised downward by 285,000 for the two previous months.
Flood claimed he supports releasing the Epstein case files as well as the effort to subpoena Ghislaine Maxwell – Epstein's convicted, longtime associate – in front of Congress.
'I don't know what the situation was with [McEntarfer]. Neither do you,' Flood said. 'I don't know. I don't know.
'I can tell you – I've been an employer for a lot of years, and there's always two sides to every story, and I don't know what that side was. I will say this, though, if all that person did was get the data out there, if all that – and I don't know that's the case – but if that's all they did, I would not have fired her.'
Nebraska's Democratic party had encouraged voters to attend the town hall in the state's capital of Lincoln.
In response to a question about the budget bill championed by Trump that cut Medicaid by a historic $1tn, Flood responded: 'I truly believe that this bill will allow America to experience growth, that it will allow our communities to thrive, that it will spark our economy, that it will help farmers and ranchers, that it will take care of the vulnerable. And more than anything, I truly believe this bill protects Medicaid for the future.'
He then dismissed calls to 'tax the rich', claiming they create jobs.
'From my standpoint, when I say I protected Medicaid, I feel like it,' Flood said. 'If you have a vulnerable loved one that's on Medicaid, and they find it's harder to continue their services, to get their free healthcare, and they clearly need it, that was not what I voted for.
'If we have to make tweaks to the implementation to make sure that those who truly need it get it and it is not a burden to their caregiver or them, then we need to make those tweaks.'
Those who attended Flood's town hall jeered and criticized him vociferously, including by saying he supported fascism. 'Fascists don't hold town halls with open question-and-answer series,' Flood replied.
Flood was first elected in 2022 and won a second term in November. He succeeded Jeff Fortenberry, a Republican incumbent who resigned after a felony conviction for lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign donation from a foreign national.