IRVINE – If there was any question that the pressure of holding on to his once-safe Orange County district is getting to embattled Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, look no further than how he speaks to his constituents, whom he called ‘fascists’ TWICE in the last month – and on one occasion, compared a constituent who requested that he hold a town hall to the Nazis. DCCC spokesperson Drew Godinich released the following statement:
“The difference between how Congressman Rohrabacher treats those he’s supposed to work for – the people of Southern California – and the people he actually works for – Vladimir Putin and his gang of Kremlin cronies, is harrowing. His constituents are treated to insults and slurs, while the Russian lawyers who conspired to sway our election are treated to private dinners and tours of Capitol Hill. It should come as no surprise that the people of the 48th Congressional district are sick and tired of Dana Rohrabacher’s antics and are looking for new leadership in Washington.”
You can read the stories in the Los Angeles Times and Yahoo (with video) below:
Los Angeles Times: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher faces hostile crowd during panel about Russia and Trump at Politicon
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher on Sunday braved a crowd of politically engaged Southern Californians for a panel called “From Russia with Trump.”
It started with boos for the congressman and went downhill from there.
“Let’s avoid outright hostility,” moderator Vince Houghton told the audience in the Civic Auditorium at the Pasadena Convention Center, where the Politicon convention was held this weekend.
[…]
The crowd wasn’t having it. They heckled him. “Shame on you!” they shouted. They called for “town hall meetings” in his district, 50 miles from the convention. They called him “paranoid.” They hissed and they laughed.
When he was shouted down, the congressman warned, “It’s usually fascists who don’t let somebody talk.”
Rohrabacher went after familiar targets, including President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. A man in the crowd shouted, “Fox News talking point!”
When it came to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe into Russia’s meddling in the U.S. elections, Rohrabacher questioned the intelligence unearthed in the investigation and brought the conversation back to Clinton’s controversial campaign emails. “They were not making up emails,” he said. “All they were doing was releasing information that was accurate.”
The congressman said he’s learned not to trust American intelligence until he can verify it, and cited the reports of weapons of mass destruction during the Iraq conflict to back up his point.
Yahoo News: Democrats line up to take on ‘Putin’s favorite congressman’
“Your organization acts like a bunch of fascists,” Rohrabacher growled in June when an Indivisible member “served” him with an invitation to the group’s Aug. 1 town hall, which he promptly threw to the ground. (The congressman hasn’t participated in any live town halls with his constituents since the election.)