One of the most vulnerable House Republicans up for reelection in 2026 told her colleagues that she will host a town hall meeting "when hell freezes over.”
CNN obtained audio of Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Republican of Iowa, telling fellow Republicans in August that she has no desire to listen to her constituents yell at her in person—even if it's literally her job to hear her constituents' concerns so she can best represent them in Washington.
“You know, I don’t have to hold a town hall so you can come and yell at me,” Miller-Meeks told a meeting of Johnson County Republicans.
She said that anyone who wants to voice their concerns can find her in public instead.
“You can yell at me at the county fair—and you did! And you did. They did,” Miller-Meeks said. “You know, you yell at me in church, you yell at me at the county fair, I’m out in public all the damn time. Someone yelled at me at the speedway.”
Really, what Miller-Meeks is afraid of is being captured on video unable to defend herself when constituents ask her legitimate questions about why she is cutting their health care benefits and why she won't stand up to President Donald Trump’s moronic tariffs, which are harming farmers in her state.
In fact, earlier this year, GOP leadership advised its caucus not to hold town halls for that very reason—a cowardly move that allows Republicans to deny that voters feel real frustration that the GOP won't say no to their Dear Leader.
The handful of Republican lawmakers who have held town halls have found themselves embarrassed when they were unable to defend Trump's policies.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, shown in August 2024.
Indeed, Miller-Meeks' fellow Iowa Republican Joni Ernst, a senator, infamously told a constituent at a town hall who was fearful about Republicans' Medicaid cuts that "we all are going to die" someday. Since that gaffe, Ernst announced she will not run for reelection next year.
Miller-Meeks, for her part, is one of the most vulnerable Republicans up for reelection in the 2026 midterms.
Last year, she won her Iowa House seat by just 799 votes against Democrat Christina Bohannan.
Bohannan is running again in 2026, an election that is expected to be a much bluer environment. Inside Elections, a nonpartisan political handicapping outlet, rates the race as a “toss-up.”
Democrats have already seized on Miller-Meeks' flippant comment that she has no plans to listen to her constituents at a town hall.
"Back in April, #IA01 Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks promised she would hold an in-person town hall this year, but it's been ten months and Iowans are STILL waiting to hear why she's backed devastating health care cuts and tariffs," American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic opposition research group, wrote in a post on X.
