Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma was taken to task at a Tuesday town hall meeting over his party’s policies.
Continuing the theme of Republican politicians being blindsided by their constituents questioning their blind loyalty to President Donald Trump, Brecheen was confronted on multiple issues during a stop on a four-day town hall tour of his district, including the president’s mathematics.
At the meeting in Pryor, in northeastern Oklahoma, Brecheen was asked by one constituent about Trump’s claims that he was lowering drug prices by 1500 percent, as well as what Brecheen has done specifically to lower grocery prices—two of the more pressing issues for the vast majority of Americans concerned about the increasing cost of living.
A visibly annoyed Brecheen dismissed her questions as pertaining to the state level and thus beyond his purview, before launching into a convoluted, and condescending, explanation of the enumerated powers given explicitlyhe took to Congress.
“Ma’am, you’re talking about things relative to state level, and so you’re, you’re mixing federal and state,” he said, before continuing.
In May, Brecheen changed his vote regarding Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” from a “no” to “present,” allowing the bill to advance, before eventually voting for it. Brecheen is also a member of the House Budget Committee.
Critics have said that the bill, a piece of federal, not state, legislation, will increase the cost of everyday necessities like health care, food, and utilities.
This week’s town halls mark Brecheen’s return to public meetings after ”months of absence,” according to 2NewsOklahoma. At town hall meetings on Monday, Brecheen openly discussed the impact Trump’s budget bill would have on taxes and Medicaid—a stark contrast to his response on Tuesday when asked about the cost of living.
Brecheen was also asked about his support for Israel, into be g about a trip he took there last month, to which he responded that, due to his belief in the Bible—specifically citing Genesis 12 and 17—he supports Israel.
He prompted laughter from the audience at one point after expressing concerns about the potential existence of Sharia Law in the U.S., citing alleged statements from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who he claimed had expressed a desire to “re-establish the Ottoman Empire.”
He then pleaded with the audience that “we cannot go turning into chaos.”
Attendees of Brecheen’s town hall in Muskogee told reporters that they found the format—where Brecheen spoke for an hour and only allowed five people to ask questions—frustrating, and that he failed to adequately address their concerns.
“I didn’t feel like it was truly answering the questions, what you’re wanting to ask. It was kind of talking a little bit around the questions and around our concerns and not really pinpointing the issues,” one resident said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Rep. Brecheen’s office for comment.
Other Republicans have had similarly frosty receptions at town hall meetings this month. At a Monday town hall in Missouri, Rep. Mark Alford was told by constituents to get his head “out of Trump’s a--,” and asked to denounce the president’s lies.
At a town hall event last week, Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming struggled to respond when questioned by voters about her support for Trump’s tariffs. Days earlier, she left voters incensed after denying basic science around carbon emissions and climate change at another town hall meeting.
Rep. Brecheen is holding 10 further town hall meetings around Oklahoma this week.
