but don t you believe that the person should be qualified? then we would not have tillerson being secretary of state. [ cheers and applause ] in some cases, angry voters across the country holding empty-chair town halls for lawmakers reluctant to show. voicing their displeasure by posting missing congressman notices on milk carton, marco rubio s constituents printing a life-sized cut-out and hiding his face in where s waldo puzzles, seeking him out in their daily routine. i thought you were in europe. i saw these missing child posters all over town. are you going to host a town hall? i m glad you re okay. there s a constituent town hall today. we need to hear from you, senator. senator, we need to hear from you, your constituents. are you going to host a town hall? some lawmakers defending their absence citing concerns for their safety.
cutouts of missing senator rob portman and in florida, one constituent chasing down marco rubio. are you going to hold a town hall? there s a constituent town hall today. we need to hear from you, senator. reporter: some politicians are citing safety concerns. texas congressman louie gohmert saying he s skipping the town hall because of what happened to gabby gifford. gifford released a statement saying i was shot on sunday, by monday my offices were open to the public. she said to the politicians who abandoned their civic obligations, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. when i spoke to senator mcconnell yesterday and said these people want to be heard. he said we are hearing them, there s a fundamentally different view on what should be happening. david? deb, thanks so much. strong statement from former congresswoman giffords. president trump this morning
there s a constituent town hall today. we need to hear from you senator. senator, we need to to hear from you, your constituents. reporter: some lawmakers citing concerns for safety. congressman louie gel mert saying the house sergeant of arms advised us after former congressman gabby giffords was shot at an appearance, that civilian attendees at congressional public events stand the most harm of being harmed or killed just as happened there. giffords responded to say i was shot on saturday morning. by monday morning my offices were open to the public. to the politicians who have abandoned their sive ville obligations, i say this, have some courage, face your constituents, hold town halls. so much passion here today. we heard over and over they want to see more done in small towns. we talked to senator grassley and he said this isn t worse
said we re against every one of trump s nominees. in northwest arkansas, a woman asking tom cotton to do something to get president trump to release his tax returns. what would you do to help bring that about in congress to show this man s tax returns? the way we determine who our commander-in-chief in this country is is through elections. and we just had an election. [ audience reacts ] this is a hotly contested issue during the election. and donald trump still won. the former president showed his birth certificate, my god. [ crowd chanting tax returns ] many republicans are simply refusing to hold town halls, senator marco rubio of florida caught on camera at a hospital today walking away while asked why he isn t meeting his constituents. are you going to have a town hall? there s a constituent town hall today. we need to hear from you, senator. texas senator ted cruz who
[ audience reacts ] this is a hotly contested issue during the election. and donald trump still won. the former president showed his birth certificate, my god. [ crowd chanting tax returns ] many republicans are simply refusing to hold town halls, senator marco rubio of florida caught on camera at a hospital today walking away while asked why he isn t meeting his constituents. are you going to have a town hall? there s a constituent town hall today. we need to hear from you, senator. texas senator ted cruz who hasn t held a town hall claimed town hall anger isn t about him anyway. they re filled with rage. not at republicans, not even at trump. they re filled with rage at the american people, at the voters, for daring to elect a republican president, a republican majority in both houses.