“In My Grill” Congressman Dave Brat, R-Va, responded to mounting pressure from local and national news sources after a leaked tape revealed him saying “the women are in my grill over these town halls”, by hosting a hastily-convened 37 minute FB Live Town Hall on 1/31. Grillin' Dave Brat Hosts Facebook Live event
Brat, whose upset victory over Eric Cantor in 2014 was orchestrated by Steve Bannon, spoke for the first 10 min about his own history of hosting more town halls than any other congressman. Brat then reviewed his degrees in divinity and economics and noted that he had never run a negative ad because it violated his Christian beliefs. He declined to comment on his taped remarks over the previous weekend about “the WOMEN keep coming up to me. They’re in my grill with questions about healthcare and town halls.”
Despite only seven hours’ notice of the event, over 7000 questions were submitted for the brief online-only format that many constituents without internet access in the rural areas he represents were unable to participate in. Brat took 7 of these, relating to immigration, ACA repeal and his bill for HSA’s as a replacement, his personhood bill, his support for Trump’s cabinet nominees and questions about Steve Bannon’s qualifications to serve on the US Security Council.
Regarding the President’s cabinet nominees, he said as a member of the House of Representatives he would not be voting on them but did specifically reaffirm his support of Betsy DeVos for Education. He did not respond to the question on how many millions of dollars the DeVos family has contributed to the Republican Party. ($200 million according to her testimony at her Senate confirmation hearing last month). Asked to comment specifically on Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon to the US Security Council, displacing the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Director of National Intelligence, Brat demurred saying it was “the President’s prerogative to name those advisers.” Pam Kennedy wasn’t satisfied, “The content was heavily edited, he wasn't prepared to answer tough questions and deliberately glossed over some tough questions regarding his relationship with Bannon.”
Responding to questions about his “Human Life Begins at Conception” bill and funding for Planned Parenthood, he said as an economist he would, “follow the data, follow the science. Science says that at conception you have human DNA, it’s not going to be a tree. It’s a human life”
Julie Manzari noted, “It's the first phase of attack on Roe v Wade. If they make it law that a fertilized egg is a human, then the killing of the egg is murder. This is the ploy. We are not stupid-- There is no science to support this.” Regarding taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood Brat said, “You know we’re all in favor of giving women the best health care. However, it’s the taxpayer funding of abortions that we have a problem with as pro life people.” Jennifer See pointed out, “He claimed that taxpayer dollars are used to fund abortion, which is why he is supporting the personhood bill. The Hyde Act has prevented taxpayers from paying for abortions since I was a toddler.”
When Brat was asked about how the GOP would replace the ACA if they repealed it he answered, “What are we going to do? I don’t know the answer to that,”
Brat said he supports the provision of catastrophic insurance for everyone along with health savings accounts, HSA’s which many experts have said are only good as a tax shelter for high income families but not feasible for working and middle class families. Brat said “my preferred model is old school, to provide catastrophic coverage”. He said the average family income in Virginia is $67,000 and the average cost of a health plan is $17,000 for a family of four, failing to mention that under the ACA 80% of that cost is subsidized. He said he has sponsored a bill to provide everyone with “an HSA worth a few thousand dollars to cover routine medical expenses”, ignoring those families who would be unable to afford to save enough to add to their HSA’s to cover the cost of even one major illness, hospitalization or surgery. Also, those whose “routine medical expenses” include expensive tests like MRI’s would go into state high risk pools, Brat also reiterated his position that Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would be insolvent in 15 years and that the Affordable Care Act is not sustainable.
Viewer Adam Spangler remarked, “He mentions the costs of hip replacement coming down due to HSAs, his logic is flawed. There was a lower reference price set for hip replacements. That's what brought costs down, not the existence of HSAs. Sharon Mundy was dissatisfied, “Brat is simply out of touch with Virginia families and certainly with their healthcare concerns.”
On the subject of the recent immigration ban which specifically targets Muslims including those who are legal residents of the US, Brat said, “No one is being targeted and no one is being deported.” adding, “We are fighting a war against an opponent who does not believe in religious toleration like the Judaeo-Christian tradition so that is the issue – it’s a fundamental policy debate about migration, the migration problem from Syria.” He defended Trump’s border wall saying that Virginia has an opioid epidemic going on and this border wall would prevent drugs from being smuggled into the country. Asked whether it might be more prudent to spend that kind of money on other evidence-based means in combating the epidemic, he declined to answer.
Sharon Mundy commented, “Dave Brat didn’t really answer our questions at all. He just did this non-event to give us the party line of alternative facts. Does he think we’ don’t see what’s happening to Muslims at Dulles airport in our own state?”
On the subject of in-person town hall meetings with his constituents which he has avoided since the election, Brat had earlier in the week promised one after the first 100 days when it was less busy. During the FB Live event he announced that he would hold a town hall in his district on 2/21. His constituents had learned earlier in the day that he is planning to travel to Arizona where he will be guest speaker at a town hall there on 2/23.
“Grillin’ Dave Brat” concluded the event by congratulating himself for answering “the toughest questions on the toughest issues of the day. We won’t always agree on every issue,” Brat said. “I love everybody out there, I went to seminary, that’s a command not a suggestion. However judging from the emojis on the screen during the event, the viewer response to his comments was 800 negative to 100 positive. Anna B. Davis said, “...his performance was cowardly. And, his word salad would have made Sarah Palin proud. Was he trying to belittle his constituents with his repeated references to his PhD? I am just a poor old retired female. Please send $$ for my paid activism to my PayPal Account.”