New Hampshire Rep. Maggie Goodlander faced âholy angerâ at a town hall in Concord on Thursday as constituents urged the Democrats to do more to oppose President Donald Trump.
More than 200 people packed a high school auditorium on Wednesday to question the congresswoman, expressing fury at Democratsâ perceived lack of opposition to the Trump administrationâs agenda.
âThere is no fight in the Democratic Party anymore,â said Lisa Perrone from Hillsborough, N.H., according to the Concord Monitor.
Perrone said she was calling federal offices every day to make her views known and doesnât see her representatives leading by example.
âI am doing my part. I feel let down,â Perrone said.
Goodlander acknowledged the frustration in the room.
âWhat Iâm hearing tonight is⌠holy anger. Itâs holy anger, and weâve got to harness together to get the job done,â she said.
Others in attendance stressed that Democrats needed a plan to oppose Trump and Elon Muskâs sweeping changes.
âI donât follow sports, but I know good coaches have playbooks, and they follow them. Iâm going to encourage you and the rest of your party to get a playbook together and to start following it,â retired teacher Karen Maitland told the congresswoman.
âWhile weâre out here screaming into the void, we need to hear Congress screaming into the void as well,â she added.
Many attendees also expressed anger at the stateâs Democratic senators, who both voted for a Republican- and Trump-backed government spending bill to avoid a shutdown last week.
Goodlander, who voted against the bill, told the Monitor at the time it was âanother partisan stopgapâ by Republicans that included no protections for Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid.
âWe have got to use every tool we have. We have to create leverage wherever we possibly can create it to fight this fight,â Goodlander told the audience on Wednesday. âOur constitution is being tested like itâs never been tested before, and we have got to be clear and completely relentless in the way that we are governing.â
Although she urged those who oppose Trump to attend rallies and write to their representatives, Goodlander expressed her commitment to bipartisanship.
âIâm going to work with anyone who will work with me,â she said.