Andy Barr gets booed, interrupted, scolded and praised in Mt. Sterling
The Republican from
"In fact, I mean, I'm reinvigorated to fix this broken health care system," Barr said. "I know my constituents who are flooding my office with calls and Obamacare is making life harder for them."
With
Trump recently tweeted that angry crowds attending town halls in Republican districts were actually "planned out by liberal activists. Sad!"
But when Barr began taking questions Wednesday after his "update from
For the most part, Barr stuck to his usual talking points. He railed against the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, saying it hurts small banks in communities such as
"That's because they're being bought by bigger banks!" someone in the audience shouted in response.
He called the Affordable Care Act a failure and said 4.7 million Americans lost their health insurance because of the bill (a number based on an AP article in 2014 that inflated the total).
"Tell the whole truth!" an audience member retorted.
Barr also used a question about infrastructure to make an appeal for lowering the corporate tax rate.
"Trickle-down economics doesn't work!" came a response from the audience.
Since Trump has assumed office, Barr has voted with Trump's position 100 percent of the time according to the website Five Thirty Eight. Trump won Barr's district by 15.3 percentage points.
Some of Trump's policies, however, have created a backlash in
Many of the questions raised by constituents focused on the Affordable Care Act, which
Barr defended his position to repeal the law. Specifically, he said
Barr said he thinks replacing the law will enable people to have "great" health insurance, instead of just being covered.
Barr, who serves on the
"Many of the brokers who are also constituents of mine tell me they will no longer serve constituents like you, so that's the problem," Barr said.
People hissed during Barr's defense of removing the fiduciary rule.
Although angry constituents outnumbered Barr's supporters, there were some friendly faces in the audience.
One man said he was negatively affected by the Affordable Care Act because his cost of insurance increased. Another said he noticed more coal trucks on the road and said he hopes it means Trump's pledge to repeal environmental regulations is working.
After Barr was asked if he supports an independent investigation into the allegations of Trump's ties to
Though several members of the audience were able to air their grievances, few thought their points stuck with Barr.
"It was like in the Matrix, you know, when the bullets are coming at Neo," said
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