U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards’ town hall in Asheville on Thursday drew hundreds – with most in attendance visibly and loudly outraged by recent federal government cuts, led by Republicans.
Outside the venue, there were pride flags, American flags, Ukrainian flags and Black Lives Matter flags. A line with more than 1,000 people snaked down the road, with some bearing handmade signs reading, “Stop Arming Israel” or “Remove Musk.”
Inside the venue, hundreds of constituents angry about the barrage of changes happening to the federal government under President Donald Trump lined the rows at Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College's Ferguson Auditorium..
At the center of it all was Republican Congressman Edwards, who represents North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District and is one of only a handful of Republican representatives to hold a town hall with constituents this month – against the advice of senior party leaders in Washington.
“You've seen a lot of advice in Washington, D.C., from different folks saying, you know, Republicans shouldn't be out there doing town halls. And I'm thinking, ‘Why not?’” Edwards said as he kicked off the event.
“I love the people in Western North Carolina,” he continued. “I trust the people in Western North Carolina. Do I agree with everything? Do they agree with me about everything? Absolutely not. But why do we shy away from those conversations, as long as we can do that civilly? I appreciate the opportunity to hear opinions, even if they differ from mine.”
And differ they did.
“We’re living in a fascist coup!” an audience member yelled early on.
“Are you afraid of Trump?” another asked.
“Grow a spine!”
“We don’t believe you!”
“The stock market is down 10%!”
The town hall – marked by a near-constant stream of heckles, jeers and interruptions from the crowd – provided a glimpse of political tensions roiling the country since Trump began his second term and immediately embarked on sweeping cuts to the federal workforce with the help of billionaire White House adviser Elon Musk.
While the crowd initially applauded Edwards for holding the event, he often struggled to get a full sentence out in response to questions before being interrupted by audience members.
“Would you give me a chance to answer this question,” he said at one point, “and then you can start yelling after I answer it?”
During the 90-minute event, a man was escorted out of the auditorium by several police officers after he stood up and began shouting expletives at Edwards.
“I’m a veteran and you don’t give a f— about me!” he yelled. “You don’t get to take away our rights!”
Matthew Marshall, a spokesperson for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed one person was escorted out of the event but not charged or arrested.
Edwards says FEMA task force report coming soon
Western North Carolina is still in the beginning stages of its long recovery from Hurricane Helene. Edwards, who is in his second term in Congress, has been a leader in efforts to secure federal disaster relief for the region. State officials have said billions of dollars more in federal aid is needed in order to fuel the recovery.
Edwards began the town hall by highlighting the work he has done to help the region’s recovery.
In a display of bipartisanship, Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards, a Democrat, introduced the congressman at the event. She said his “commitment to the people of Western North Carolina was apparent in the days, weeks and months after Helene devastated us on September 27.”
Yet questions about that topic were few and far between. Most attendees who submitted questions focused instead on whether Edwards supports the president’s positions as well as the impact of Trump and Musk’s actions on federal workers, military veterans, Ukraine, USAID and the rule of law.
"Do you support the annexation of Canada and/or Greenland?” one audience member asked, in reference to Trump’s recent remarks on the topic. “And this is a yes-or-no question."
Edwards responded, “The short answer to that is no, I do not.”
In a press conference with reporters after the town hall, Edwards said he is close to finishing a report for Trump as a member of the president’s task force charged with recommending changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
“I hope to have that report completed at least in draft form by the end of next week,” Edwards said. “Then, shortly after that, we'll go to print and publish and get it to the president. And I'm very optimistic that he's going to take to heart the recommendations that I make, because he obviously valued my opinion that I gathered through the people here in Western North Carolina. I'm anxious to get it to him.”
Trump has been sharply critical of the agency’s response to Helene and other disasters. During a visit to Western North Carolina in January, he suggested overhauling it or even eliminating it completely.
The town hall was Edwards’s second public event of the day. Earlier, at a press conference in Canton, Edwards and Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers announced $41 million in federal funding to help the town make much-needed renovations to its wastewater treatment infrastructure.
A man was escorted from that event after shouting a question at Edwards and approaching him at the podium, according to the Smoky Mountain News.
Concerns about future of Medicare, Social Security
In response to the crowd’s heated questions at the town hall – some submitted on index cards and read by a moderator, others spoken aloud by audience members – Edwards largely voiced support for Trump’s agenda and said he was proud of much of the work happening in Washington.
He dismissed suggestions that Trump is overstepping his authority as president, and rejected the notion that Congress should do more to rein in the president’s efforts to slash federal agencies such as the Department of Education.
“We do have the power of the purse,” Edwards said. “There's nothing in the Constitution that says the president has to spend every single dollar of it.”
Many in the mostly-older crowd were also concerned about the future of programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. One of the audience members who asked Edwards about potential cuts to those programs was Michael Tait.
“ Many of us in Western North Carolina rely on Medicaid, Medicare and/or Social Security to get health care and pay our bills,” Tait said. “Mathematically, it is impossible to enact your proposed budget – the Republican proposed budget – without making deep cuts to these programs. What is your message to constituents who depend on these programs here?”
Edwards – who voted to approve that budget – said cutting those programs was not mentioned in the measure. But the proposal requires $880 billion in savings over the next decade. That’s something that the Congressional Budget Office says is impossible without cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Edwards replied that while “the reality is” that it may be necessary to make some changes to those programs in order to keep them solvent, “there's no intent from President Trump nor from the Congress to do anything to disrupt payments for Medicare or Social Security.”
“What I can tell you, with all sincerity, is the issue of Social Security solvency is one of extreme importance to myself and all my other colleagues in Congress,” Edwards said. “And we're committed to not touching the benefits of anyone that is already in the program.”
After the event, Tait said he wasn’t satisfied with Edwards’s answer.
“We're seeing a lot of defunding of programs that are absolutely essential to the operation of this country,” he told BPR. “So, I feel like no one was really listened to in there.”
Jose Sandoval contributed to this report.
Correction: This post has been updated to reflect crowd size of more than 1,000 people.
