Asheville town hall gets heated as Rep. Chuck Edwards faces constituents

• Over 2,000 protesters gathered for a town hall hosted by Rep. Chuck Edwards in Asheville. The event comes with rising tension over the Trump administration’s policies, including mass firings of federal workers.
• A veteran expressed frustration at Edwards’ support for Trump and Musk’s job cuts, leading to his removal by deputies after a heated exchange about the House budget resolution.
• Following recent contentious town halls with Republicans, the Democratic Party plans its own series of town halls in Republican districts across the U.S., with Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Bernie Sanders headlining events.

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Thousands of protesters showed up to a town hall hosted by Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards in Asheville, North Carolina, Thursday, March 13. The event came after several other town halls in the past few weeks where Republican members of congress have been met with anger from voters over the Trump administration’s policies. 

More than 2,000 people gathered outside of the Asheville auditorium with around 300 people cramming inside.

“So would you give me a chance to answer this question. Then you can start to yell after, after I begin,” Edwards told the attendees. “Let me answer and then if you don’t like it, you can boo or hiss or whatever you’d like to do.”

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Then, a man in the crowd identifying as a veteran stood up expressing his frustration at Edwards over his support of mass firings of federal workers. 

Four deputies then escorted him out of the room at Edwards’ request.

The eruption happened after Edwards’ comments about his vote for the house budget resolution.

The Trump administration earlier this month revealed plans in a memo to cut thousands of jobs within the department of veterans affairs.

The head of the American Federation of Government Employees said the cuts severely put at risk the Veterans Affairs’ ability to deliver care for the country’s veterans.

What did Edwards think about the town hall turnout?

Speaking with reporters after the town hall, Edwards said Trump and Musk were “over the target” in what they set out to accomplish.

“I believe that there’s a lot of anger, a lot of angst out there from folks that didn’t support him in, in, in the beginning,” Edwards said. “And I take away from much of what I heard today, that we’re doing exactly what the American people sent us to Washington, D.C. to do.”

Why are Republicans being advised to not hold town halls?

Thursday night’s contentious event follows a series of outbursts at other Republican-led town halls, which led to GOP leaders calling to halt the events temporarily. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in February 2025 town hall attendees were all “paid protesters” but provided no evidence.

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In response to the recent warning that Republicans should avoid community meetings, the Democratic party is planning an extensive series of its own town halls in Republican-held districts, in all 50 states.

During the weekend of March 15, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota is set to headline two of the events.

The idea of Democrats’ hosting town halls in Republican districts began when Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders held five town halls, drawing thousands of people.