This Jewish Republican Is Ducking Rowdy Town Hall Meetings
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By Nathan Guttman February 22, 2017
After hecklers shouted down Republicans in their home district town hall meetings this week, one New York representative says he’s found a way to avoid the embarrassment: don’t go. Instead, Lee Zeldin, one of two Jewish Republicans in the House, says he is doing “tele-town hall” meetings by phone.
In an interview with CNN Zeldin said that congressional town hall meetings have turned into a “political theater” in which protesters “want to get their 19 seconds of fame” and behave in a “disrespectful” manner. He also complained that some participants show up at the town hall meetings “with no sense of decorum.”
Zeldin’s staff will control who is invited to participate.
Contact Nathan Guttman at guttman@forward.com
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