Angry constituents confronted Republican Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri during a town hall on Monday evening, accusing the lawmaker of being more loyal to President Donald Trump than the people he represents in Congress.
Alford, one of the few Republicans willing to make an appearance at an in-person town hall, calmly responded to aggressive questions and comments from his constituents, even when they used profanity.
“I am pissed and I am pissed at you,” Fred Higginbotham, a resident of Bolivar, said to Alford. “Get Trump out of office. The man is a dictator. He knows nothing about what he talks about.”
“You need to take your head out of Trump’s a** and start doing your representation of us,” Higginbotham said to a round of applause from the crowd.
Despite the hostility, Alford thanked Higginbotham for his question before responding calmly.
At times, the town hall was contentious, with some people yelling at Alford to express their disappointment.
“Your job as Congress is to check and balance our president,” one man told Alford. “There’s been no checks and balances at all.”
However, for the most part, the town hall remained civil, even though most attendees appeared upset with Alford, according to local news KSHB.
Many of Alford’s Republican colleagues opted to host virtual town halls or cancel their in-person town halls entirely this past year after several devolved into chaos from disgruntled constituents unhappy with the way Trump has capitalized on executive authority to force change.
Videos posted from town halls earlier this year showed Republican lawmakers struggling to speak over irate constituents while defending Trump’s record.
Alford’s town hall appeared different in tone but also in substance; the Missouri rep broke from Trump on several matters and put some distance between himself and the president.
“I’m not the best of friends with Trump,” Alford told constituents. “I met him maybe five or six times.”
He called some of the sweeping federal workforce layoffs “mistakes,” and said he disagreed with sending the National Guard into other cities unless the governor asks.
Alford also admitted that some Medicaid cuts in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill have hurt rural hospitals because they’re “losing some of this money.” But contended that he is trying to “make up” for some of it by bringing projects back to the state.
While many in the room seemed dissatisfied with Alford’s alignment with Trump, even if it’s not the most aligned a Republican rep has been, Alford’s seat is considered safe. He won his district in 2024 with approximately 71 percent of the vote – likely making him more comfortable touring around the district.
That doesn’t mean Alford hasn’t faced intense pushback from constituents, though.
In February, one of Alford’s town halls turned hostile when several constituents fumed about federal workforce cuts.
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