A town hall hosted by Rep. Byron Donalds turned chaotic Tuesday, with audience members repeatedly interrupting the Florida Republican, leading authorities to remove two people — the latest raucous town hall dominated by protests against President Trump’s administration.
Donalds, a three-term congressman running in next year’s Florida gubernatorial race, was asked a litany of often-testy questions, several of which focused on billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Audience members booed or cheered — and, in some cases, angrily left early — throughout the almost two-hour event at Estero High School in southwest Florida. Donalds occasionally verbally sparred with the protesters.
Two people appeared to be escorted out by the local sheriff’s department after yelling pro-Palestinian sentiments while Donalds answered a question about the Israel-Hamas war. During one incident, Donalds said he would have a protester removed if she kept interrupting. “Let’s have a disagreement. But when you’re going to stand and yell and disrespect everybody in this room because you think you’re being heard, and let’s be clear, you’re not,” he said.
Donalds told reporters after the event he plans on holding more town halls, but he said the interruptions “got out of hand,” calling some of them “rude” and “disrespectful” to other attendees.
“I could kind of tell from the first question or two what kind of night it was going to be. But you know, that’s alright. It’s part of the business,” Donalds told reporters.
The interruptions began quickly. Minutes into the event, a staff member read a pre-submitted question about whether Donalds supports congressional oversight of DOGE. Donalds defended Musk’s cost-cutting efforts and said lawmakers are “letting DOGE complete its work,” leading some audience members to groan and boo — though others appeared to cheer Donalds on.