Republican congressman booed often in North Dakota town hall

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - U.S. Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer from North Dakota has held numerous town hall meetings since taking office in 2013, none of them more contentious than Thursday’s event at a Fargo coffee shop.

Many in the audience at a packed Beans Coffee Bar heckled Cramer often, including immediately after he opened the one-hour question-and-answer session with a prayer. “Pray for the Muslims,” one person offered. “Pray for Hispanics,” another said.

Cramer was roundly booed over topics such as health care, abortion, his support of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and President Donald Trump’s dealings with Russia. Cramer was an early supporter of the Trump campaign. North Dakota residents in November gave Cramer 69 percent of the vote and Trump 63 percent.

In one exchange, Cramer went back and forth with people who were unhappy he labeled the Affordable Care Act as Obamacare. “All the Obamacare lovers in North Dakota in one room at one time. It’s amazing,” Cramer said, smiling.

Later, when the congressman was jeered while answering a question on Medicaid block grants, Cramer shouted, “Listen people, you owe this woman more respect than this,” referring to someone who said she showed up three hours early so she could ask her question. Some in the audience howled when Cramer referred to some of the Dakota Access protesters as “very mentally sick people.”

By the end of the discussion, some people in the coffee shop were arguing among themselves.

Cramer said he agreed to hold the event at the request of Indivisible FM, a local group that says it’s opposed to “regressive political agendas.” Nicole Mattson, 41, a member of the organization, said she didn’t always like Cramer’s answers but didn’t believe the hollering was productive.

“I am not going to tell anybody else they don’t have the right to be angry about whatever they’re upset about,” Mattson said. “My personal feeling is, the more we yell, the less we hear each other.”

Will Blaszyk, 67, a retired naval commander and disabled veteran, said he supports Cramer and agreed with most of the congressman’s points, especially regarding personal responsibility.

“Considering the number of people who were trying to shout him down, I thought he did very well,” Blaszyk said.

Cramer said beforehand that he has held more than 400 town halls since first running for Congress and joked after seeing the size of the crowd that the shop could run out of coffee. About 50 people were left standing outside.

“I’ve never had one like this,” Cramer said after the event. “At the same time, we haven’t lived in a time like this. I haven’t served in a time when there’s a unified Republican government and there’s such a concerted effort to stop Donald Trump.”