Congressman walks out of TV interview before town hall event
Before a town hall event a part of a week-long recess for the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, walked out of a TV interview two minutes into the taping, creating an unpleasant moment for the numerous children in the room.
Blum's frustration boiled over when KCRG-TV investigative reporter Josh Scheinblum asked him about one of the town hall's rules, which bars Iowans from outside of Blum's 1st Congressional District from attending. The interview took place at the Dubuque Dream Center, which helps poor children in the area.
"I don't represent all Iowans," Blum said. "You know I represent the First District of Iowa. That'd be like saying, shouldn't I be able to, even though I live in Dubuque, go vote in Iowa City in the election because I like to vote in that district instead."
"Would you still take donations from a Republican in Iowa City?" Scheinblum asked.
Blum, who was sitting in a classroom and surrounded by school children during the interview, immediately stood up, unclipped his microphone and walked away from Scheinblum.
"I'm done. This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. You're going to sit here and just badger me," Blum said before departing the room with his staff and all of the children.
Watch a clip of the moment Blum walked:
After the encounter, Blum fielded questions at a town hall event at Dubuque Senior High School. The event hosted nearly 1,000 constituents of Iowa's First District, according to KCRG-TV.
The event was reportedly scattered with minor disruptions from parts of the crowd, but the police were not required to kick anyone out.
According to The Washington Post, Blum responded to a question during the event about the interview: "Well, we get there and we were ambushed. It was very apparent that he had an agenda. It's my right to say that this interview is over."
Blum, a member of the Freedom Caucus, voted for the revised American Health Care Act last Thursday. He did not support the original draft of previous health-care proposal in March.
The town hall on Monday was one of four this week for Blum. Republican and Democratic representatives across the country will engage in town halls in their districts throughout the week with the narrow passage of the American Health Care Act still fresh on the minds of many voters.
After a backlash against dozens of House GOP members in April during a string of town halls, some Republicans are rethinking their strategies.
Not as many Republicans are holding town hall events this week compared to earlier in the year, prompting some Democrats like U.S. Rep. Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., to host "adopt a district" events that target Republican representatives not engaging in town halls.
