Angry constituents lashed out at a Republican congressman’s support of repealing Obamacare during a tense town hall event earlier this week.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) was speaking to a large crowd of constituents in Chico, California, on Monday when audience members began to boo and heckle him over his support of House Republicans’ health care bill. According to the Congressional Budget Office, around 23 million people would lose coverage under the American Health Care Act.
“I think that your vote to throw 22 million people off of health care is reprehensible and in the service of the rich, I think it’s venal,” one audience member said. “My sincerest wish... I hope you suffer the same painful fate as those millions that you have voted to remove health care from. May you die in pain.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the constituent was a holding sign that read, “Lackey for the Rich!” The exchange was one of several heated confrontations during the meeting, one of several that LaMalfa has held this year. Republicans lawmakers have largely avoided town-hall style events following outrage over their health care plans.
Another participant at Monday’s event said that her teenaged son died in 2016 of an opioid addiction. She explained that losing health care would be devastating for those suffering from drug addiction.
“The health care bill that you voted for, the AHCA, would discontinue health insurance from millions of people,” she said. “I want you to know that these are life and death decisions that you are making. I don’t have a son anymore.”
LaMalfa defended his efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, telling KRCR that he wants “to help middle income Californians, middle income Americans be able to afford health insurance.”
But as one audience member put it, “you keep going on about middle-income families but almost a quarter of the population in your district is living below the poverty line, so what does that do for them?”
Watch more of the contentious event below, courtesy of North State Public Radio.
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