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Florida Representative Byron Donalds faced hundreds of his constituents on Monday during a contentious town hall filled with boos, jeers, cheers and shouting – the latest Republican to field aggressive questioning in the public forum.
Donalds, a close ally of President Donald Trump, defended the administration’s policies and positions as he fielded confrontational questions about Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency, the Israel–Hamas conflict, diversity, equity and inclusion, and more.
However, he struggled to get through answers as audience members interrupted him several times to boo or shout at him.
“Are you going to allow me to answer the question?” Donalds asked the audience after he was interrupted while trying to explain the benefit of DOGE.
The Republican representative got particularly heated while defending Trump’s decision to end DEI policies in the federal government, arguing that the policies do not help minority children.
"I like how everybody is shouting at me, the Black guy onstage with the microphone in his hands saying, ‘Have you read this book, read this book, read this book, read this book?’” Donalds said. "Don’t marginalize my life and what I’ve done. Don’t do that."
At one point, Donalds got into a yelling match with a pro-Palestinian constituent who continued to shout over him as he tried to address her concerns.
Before the town hall had ended, nearly half of the crowd had walked out, according to Gulf Coast News, while many others had been escorted out by deputies.
Donalds is the latest Republican to face stern questioning from constituents who are unhappy with various aspects of the Trump administration, namely the potential cuts that Musk and DOGE may make to Medicare or Social Security.
The recent string of chaotic Republican town halls led some lawmakers move to a telephone format or avoid holding one altogether, at the advice of National Republican Congressional Committee chair Richard Hudson.
But Donalds, who is also running for Florida governor, appeared prepared to face aggressive questioning.
"It's important, especially at this time period, where there's a lot of confusion and a lot of misconceptions,” Donalds said, according to Gulf Coast News.
“Obviously, there are citizens who are not happy, but there are many more citizens who are. And so I think it's important to go out there and bring this information to people, whether they want to hear it or not.”
Only those who pre-registered and provided a valid ID for Donalds’s town hall were permitted to attend.
