BTRTN: Swing District GOP Rep Mike Lawler (NY17) Bobs, Weaves and Dissembles at Raucous Town Hall
Born To Run The Numbers attended Mike Lawler's Town Hall in Westchester County on Sunday evening, and provides a summary of the event. The smarmy GOP Congressman seemed to think he could fast-talk, filibuster, and double-talk his way through the evening, but the attendees asked very sharp questions and instantly knew when Lawler was playing fast and loose with the facts and dodging answers:
https://borntorunthenumbers.com/2025/05/05/btrtn-swing-district-gop-rep-mike-lawler-ny17-bobs-weaves-and-dissembles-at-raucous-town-hall/
Excerpts: "The event was raucous, indeed. The crowd was boisterous in its objections to Lawler’s rambling and off-point defenses of the Trump administration, to be sure. The post-event coverage to date has centered on the fact that two women were forcibly ejected from the event, carried out physically by New York State troopers. The coverage has generally not addressed what Lawler actually said to engender such an outpouring of emotion...
"The main problem was the format: specifically, that questioners were not allowed to ask follow-up questions. Thus, there was no way for Lawler’s pat answers to be probed or challenged, and since they were often off-point, redirected or misleading, the crowd was increasingly frustrated... The only way for audience members to challenge his dissembling was to shout out corrections or requests for clarifications...they did, in abundance...
"Lawler’s answers were unsurprising. Anyone familiar with GOP talking points (and the crowd certainly was) and also Lawler’s adaptation of them to suit his swing district needs (mixing in occasional righteous indignation with Trump on certain issues, but devoid of any real passion or discussion of any ways his opposition to Trump translated into action) could have guessed his responses...
"But he dodged entirely the issue of Trump clearly ignoring the court’s main ruling, that of “facilitating” Abrego Garcia’s return, and why he and Congress were doing nothing to try to get the Trump Administration to follow the law. In response to a shouted-out call for impeachment, Lawler unintentionally drew the biggest laugh of the night. He said that impeachment is just a political tool now and if it were undertaken again, it would result in 'unnecessary chaos in government,' which drew belly laughs from the audience, obviously noting the irony of “chaos in government” being the operative mode of the administration Lawler was defending...
"As it became clear that she was being forcibly lifted and carried out by the State Troopers, the crowd quickly filled the room with thunderous chants of 'Let her stay! Let her stay! Let her stay!' It was grotesque, watching her carried by the arms and legs, horizontally, out of the room by the troopers. Lawler stood on the stage watching this unfold, clearly worried about the optics of an older woman being physically ejected, and the crowd’s outraged response."