Georgians Mercilessly Boo Their Republican Rep. Over Trump’s ‘Tyranny’
Donald Trump and Elon Musk have spent the first month of the president’s second administration systematically dismantling the federal government. Trump has been issuing a flurry of ostensibly illegal executive orders aimed at consolidating power in the White House, while Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have been firing critical federal employees en masse, threatening the systems that keep the United States functioning.
It stands to reason — one would hope — that Americans might not be totally thrilled that the president and his unelected billionaire henchman are circumventing Congress and the Constitution recklessly, indiscriminately tearing apart the government with little to no thought about the consequences. Signs are beginning to emerge that Americans are indeed not thrilled by this.
Let’s look at Georgia’s 7th Congressional District, a deep-red area of the state that voted for Trump in November by over 20 points. Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), who was first elected to represent the district in 2022, appeared at a town hall event there on Thursday, where he fielded questions about the first weeks of the Trump administration. It did not go well, to say the least.
McCormick was booed lustily when he tried to dismiss concerns about Trump’s flagrant abuses of power. “When you talk about tyranny, when you talk about presidential power, I remember having the same discussion with Republicans when Biden was elected,” he said in response to a rousing speech from a constituent about how America was never meant to be ruled by a dictator or king. McCormick’s equivocating response was met with a cascade of boos and jeers.
McCormick’s constituents were also upset that hundreds of employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is based in nearby Atlanta, have been fired. “Why is a supposedly conservative party taking such a radical and extremist and sloppy approach to this?” one constituent asked, according to CNN.
McCormick responded by saying that some of those who were laid off had roles that can be duplicated by AI, which wasn’t received well. McCormick responded by saying, “I happen to be a doctor. I know a few things.” It reportedly wasn’t the only time he tried to calm the crowd down over the course of the night. He even at one point compared his constituents to Jan. 6 rioters.
Voters aren’t the only ones growing concerned about Trump and Musk’s cuts — which is devastating the government’s ability to care for veterans, conduct medical research, keep national parks open, and more. Politico reported on Thursday that a growing number of congressional Republicans are trying to appeal to the White House to stop firing so many federal employees. “I thought we were supposed to be in a new era of meritocracy,” a Republican congressional aide told the outlet. “Not the indiscriminate firing of people.”
Republicans lawmakers are largely praising Trump’s actions in public, despite fretting behind the scenes, although some are going on the record about how the administration needs to take it easy. Rep. Troy Balderson (R-Ohio) said on Thursday that the cuts were getting “out of control” and “Congress has to decide whether or not the Department of Education goes away … not the president, not Elon Musk.”
McCormick even seemed to acknowledge things had gone too far while addressing his constituents in Georgia. “I don’t think executive privilege should be as strong as it is,” he said. “I think we’re out of balance right now.”
The town hall in Georgia is one of several recent indicators that Trump’s slash-and-burn approach to governance is not popular with voters. A Washington Post/Ipsos poll released this week found that 57 percent of Americans think he is overstepping his authority. The poll also found that Americans disapprove of Musk shutting down agencies he deems unnecessary by a 2-1 margin, and that 63 percent are concerned about Musk and DOGE gaining access to sensitive data.
Trump’s approval rating has been declining since he took office, as well, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll released this week putting it at 44 percent, down from three points from where it was when he took office a month ago. The Washington Post poll put his approval at 45 percent.
Trump, meanwhile, continues to live in an alternate reality. “So far we’re very popular. I had an approval rating today of 71, and another one of 69,” he said at an event for Republican governors on Thursday. “I have not heard of those numbers before.”
Neither have we.
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