A Nebraska congressman who apparently thought it would be safe to venture into his deep-red district for a town hall was met with angry booing and jeers over his support for Elon Musk’s DOGE.
Rep. Mike Flood (R-NE) also faced outrage Tuesday over President Donald Trump’s lack of support for Ukraine, along with fears the government will gut and privatize the U.S. Postal Service, the Associated Press reported.
About 200 people attended the town hall, which was held in a high school auditorium in Columbus, Nebraska. The county voted nearly 3-to-1 for Trump, according to the AP.
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“What makes you think that [Musk] has no conflict of interest?” one member of the audience demanded, to cheers. “Do you think he would cut [those interests] before he would cut our Medicare or our Social Security or our jobs?”
“I support Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency,” Flood said, leading to at least 10 seconds of sustained booing and thumbs-down from the audience.
Musk’s secretive government cost-cutting “department” has taken an axe to dozens of federal agencies, and he’s signaled that Social Security—which he called the “biggest Ponzi scheme of all time”—could also be on the chopping block.
Republicans have claimed, without providing any details, that Musk is accountable to the president and will be kept away from conflicts of interest, according to ABC News. Just this week, Musk has been allowed to install his own satellite internet in the White House and hawk Teslas from the lawn.
And that’s not even getting into the $15.4 billion in government contracts his companies have received, or his attempts to eradicate agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that regulate his business.
Republicans have faced so much angry backlash over Musk and his cuts that party leaders have advised them to stop holding town halls, but Flood decided to brave one anyway.
“I do want to thank you for actually doing a town hall,” one woman said to scattered applause, before adding that Flood probably wouldn’t like what she had to say next.
“First of all, I do want to say: Shame. I want to say shame for your quote that you said, ‘[Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky’s approach today was disrespectful to President Trump and undermines the goal of bringing peace.’ So shame on that,” she continued to cheers.
In late February, Trump and Vice President JD Vance invited Zelensky to the Oval Office—ostensibly to discuss a ceasefire deal—only to ambush him, berate him for not being grateful enough to the U.S, kick him out of the White House, and use the meeting as an excuse to withdraw aid from Ukraine.
“I do believe that that White House meeting was a disaster, and I believe that President Zelensky should have signed that agreement,” Flood replied, before being booed again.
He then tried to reiterate his position that Ukraine should not give up any land to Russia, Russia should return 20,000 kidnapped children to Ukraine, the U.S. should support NATO, and the U.S. should have better relations with Ukraine—none of which was reportedly in the deal he wanted Zelensky to sign. Nor does it track with his support for Musk, who appears to want to sabotage the NATO alliance.
The same woman then told him, “I am the daughter, the niece, the sister of veterans. Korea veteran, Iraqi war.” She said she had received the American Legion Auxiliary newsletter for decades, which has repeatedly said veterans’ groups were underfunded and understaffed.
“You have said otherwise with DOGE,” she said, apparently referring to DOGE’s plan to fire 80,000 employees with the Department of Veterans of Affairs. “Who is lying? Them or you?”
“We owe our veterans the best possible care we can afford,” Flood said, adding that it’s an issue that should unite Americans of all political backgrounds.
Speaking with reporters after the town hall, Flood didn’t sound surprised by the hostility he’d faced.
“I know that there are some angry people in my congressional district,” he said, according to the AP. “I also know there’s a lot of people who feel like America’s back on track. Tonight, I put myself here because I think there’s value just in allowing somebody to come express themselves.”
