Emotions ran high at a town hall that Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) hosted in North Dakota.
Police removed two men from the event in Mandan on Thursday afternoon after a question-and-answer session turned rowdy, according to multiple reports.
The “Coffee with Cramer” meeting ended up focusing principally on health care reform, with Cramer’s vote in favor of legislation that repeals and replaces major parts of the Affordable Care Act a particular topic of contention.
Video going viral shows how one man approached Cramer to ask him a question, but was grabbed around the throat by another. Police escorted the throat-grabber away.
The first man then asked Cramer if the rich would benefit from a tax cut if health care is destroyed. After Cramer responded “of course not,” the man shoved a wad of bills into the congressman’s shirt collar. He was also then ejected.
Neither of the removed men were arrested, however.
Cramer, who in March came under fire for mocking the symbolic white pantsuits that Democratic women wore to President Donald Trump’s first address to Congress, later appeared to play down the incident.
“I don’t have to agree with them, but I still have an obligation to listen to them,” he told local ABC affiliate WDAY-TV 6. “I don’t blame people for their anger or anxiety. If they disagree with me or somebody else, I understand that.”
Cramer later released this statement via Twitter:
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