WASHINGTON − Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., faced jeers and boos at a town hall in his suburban New York swing district on Sunday evening, as constituents unloaded over President Donald Trump's handling of immigration, tariffs, and other issues.
Lawler, who is on the Democrats' 2026 midterm target list, is one of the many Republicans who have met fired up crowds at their town halls in recent weeks amid thousands of federal layoffs, stock market volatility over tariffs and mass deportations.
Right when Lawler opened his town hall at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack, the crowd groaned as he suggested reciting the pledge of allegiance. "Please tell me you're not objecting to the pledge of allegiance," he said.
Later, he told attendees in his opening remarks that, "whether people like the outcome of an election or not, the fact is that we are a strong united country" - a remark that earned him laughter from the crowd.
Throughout the town hall, Lawler defended his record, saying that he's willing to work across the aisle and was rated the fourth most bipartisan member of Congress in 2023 by the Lugar Center and Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy.
But an audience member argued the opposite.
"You support all of the policies that this authoritarian administration is putting forth, including tax cuts for the corporations and the ultra wealthy, the tariffs that are going to make everything more expensive for us...we in the community are being harmed by this," she said, as the crowd broke out into cheers.
"What are you doing to stand in opposition to this administration?" she asked.
Lawler, in turn, accused the former Biden administration of putting the country in an economic crisis. Of Trump's tariffs, he said "negotiating a fair trade deal is critically important and that's what we're in the process of doing."
There were moments where Lawler rebuked the administration. For instance, he said he was critical of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s stance on vaccines. Kennedy has previously promoted debunked claims linking vaccines to autism, and has sowed doubt about the measles vaccine.
"I do think vaccines by and large have done more to cure diseases as well as prevent illnesses, especially among children and adults," Lawler said.
Lawler said he thinks the Trump administration should facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was wrongly deported to El Salvador.
"As the Supreme Court ruled on the case of Mr. Abrego Garcia, they said there was a court order prohibiting his deportation to El Salvador despite him being an El Salvador national and they said that he should not have been and I agree with that because you had a court order," Lawler said.
"They also said that the administration should facilitate his return and go through the deportation process and that's exactly what they should do," he added.
With respect to the deportation of U.S. citizens, he said, "that should not happen."
Though House leadership advised Republicans in March not to hold in-person town halls, some lawmakers such as Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have gone ahead anyway.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and President Trump have claimed without evidence that the people at town halls are paid protesters.