This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 8 episode of “Morning Joe.”
When I was a member of the United States Senate, I often held town halls to engage face-to-face with my constituents in Missouri. These were valuable events that gave me the chance to listen directly to voters, but they weren’t always easy.
I would begin my town halls with the Pledge of Allegiance and have a local minister share a short prayer about unity and some of the tenets of spirituality that bring people together. I’ll never forget one town hall in Fulton, Missouri, when some in the crowd booed that prayer. When you’re in a town hall and the crowd is booing the prayer, you know you’re in for a rough one.
When it comes to this Republican Party under Donald Trump, I don’t believe there are very many members of Congress who would do what I did back then.
Earlier this week, Rep. Mike Flood of Nebraska became one of the few Republicans willing to face their constituents during Congress’ August recess. Videos of that event, showing the crowd booing Flood and chanting to “vote him out,” quickly went viral. These types of viral moments are hard on members of Congress.
Some Republicans will use what happened to Flood to rationalize their decision not to engage directly with their voters. They’ll say the events would be flooded with people from outside their district, or they’ll write off anyone with complaints as members of the opposite party. I think they’re going to make a mistake by doing that. They’re underestimating how stressed people feel about Trump’s economic agenda and the impact it’s going to have on their budgets. There’s been a lot of talk about corporate America “absorbing” Trump’s tariffs, but that can’t last forever. People’s budgets will not “absorb” these tariffs. They are going to feel them. They’re going to feel them at the coffee shop. They’re going to feel them at the grocery store. They’re going to feel them online when they buy clothes or shoes. All of these things are going to continue to rise in price because there’s no way these companies can continue to absorb Trump’s tariffs, which have kicked in without any rhyme or reason — and certainly without a rational economic explanation. So my message for Republicans in Congress is this: You can run, but you cannot hide from reality.
Claire McCaskill
Claire McCaskill, a Democrat, was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri. She is currently an MSNBC and NBC News political analyst.
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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