Rep. Ashley Hinson faced heckling from constituents at a town hall in her Iowa district on Wednesday when she defended Donald Trump and his massive spending bill.
The crowd at the event in Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District repeatedly booed and shouted “no” at the Republican as she praised the president and his policies, including the One Big Beautiful Bill, which passed the House last week following GOP infighting. She was also labelled a “fraud” and laughed at several times throughout the event.
“I think Americans overwhelmingly rejected the status quo for the country,” the GOP lawmaker said of last year’s election at the event. “We were seeing an open border, high inflation, we were seeing hardworking men and women in Iowa and in our country feel like their voices were not heard,” she continued, over cries of dissent from the audience.
“The president is, I believe, fighting for you and fighting for me,” she added, prompting more angry shouting.
The crowd erupted with particular force when Hinson said Trump was “helping deport criminal illegal aliens, rather than letting them roam our streets.”
At another point, Hinson was drowned out by boos when she told the audience, “I was also proud to vote for President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill last week.”
“This is your time,” she hit back at the crowd in response. “I’m here to clean up lots of the misinformation out there today.” The crowd then laughed at her retort, according to NBC News.
Hinson also faced backlash against Trump’s “free” jet from Qatar, with the crowd cheering when one member of the audience told her: “There’s lots of reasons why somebody like you might be silent. You might be scared to say something. You might actually like to see the corruption … or you might not care about it.” Hinson told the speaker that it’s “really unfair to imply that I like to see corruption.”
Hinson later took to X to comment on the night’s events. “I will always tell you where I stand. I enjoyed hearing from constituents at my in-person town halls today and sharing more about my work with President Trump to secure the border and lower taxes for the middle-class. Thanks to everyone who came out – I’ll continue to be accessible and transparent to you.”
Olivia Late, a spokesperson for Hinson, told NBC after the town hall the congresswoman “is not afraid to face anyone and defend her support for the Trump agenda that is going to help Iowa families, farmers, and workers.”
Hinson later attacked the network on X. “Well, I’m not afraid to face anyone and defend the Trump agenda that is going to help Iowa families, farmers, & workers. That’s why I do town halls across the district,” she wrote, claiming that NBC “didn’t include the many positive comments received at these town halls.”
The crowd’s angry reaction mirrored the response at a separate town hall in Nebraska on Tuesday, when a Republican congressman ignited uproar for admitting he hadn’t read parts of the One Big Beautiful Bill he had voted for. Rep. Mike Flood also clashed with attendees over other policies at the event.
The two incidents follow a string of GOP town hall confrontations that has prompted the National Republican Congressional Committee to advise lawmakers against holding in-person town halls.
Trump’s tax and spending bill—central to his domestic agenda—passed the House by a razor-thin margin of 215 to 214. The legislation extends tax provisions from his 2017 tax act while allocating billions for the border security, defense, and other priorities.
It drew backlash this week from one of his most high-profile allies, billionaire Elon Musk, who warned it would hike the budget deficit.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would increase add roughly $3.8 trillion to the national debt.
