Congressman David Trott A No-Show, Chicken Stands In

NOVI, MI — Angry constituents of the congressman representing Michigan’s 11th District plopped a live chicken on the speaker’s podium last week at a Novi rally billed as a “David Trott town hall without David Trott.” Their meaning was clear: The second-term Republican from Birmingham didn’t show up at the meeting because he is “chicken” to face blowback on the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, President Trump’s hard line on immigrants and refugees, and other aspects of America’s social contract, critics said.

During the midwinter congressional recess last week, Trott was in India with a congressional delegation. Some of the approximately 200 people who packed the Novi Public Library said the trip was conveniently timed, a way for the congressman to avoid talking about his support for Trump’s agenda, according to media reports.

However, Trott spokeswoman Katie Vincentz said the criticism is unfair, noting that since his election in 2014, Trott has attended more than 1,000 public events, including 40 public forums, town halls and coffee talks and has scheduled mobile office hours across the district more than 200 times. A busy legislative schedule limits the time Trott can spend in one-on-one meetings with constituents, Vincentz said, but more public meetings are planned in the future.

The rally where the chicken perched on a podium with Trott’s nameplate was one of four held around the district during the weeklong congressional recess. A video posted on Facebook by the Michigan People’s Campaign showed police turning crowds away from Trott’s office in Troy.

Elected Republicans across the country faced tough crowds back home during the congressional recess as Democrats and progressive organizations ramped up their response to humiliating election losses last fall. In response, many senators and representatives simply didn’t show up for town hall meetings.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who faced an angry crowd of about 1,000 protesters at a town hall meeting in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, asserted that “winners make policy and losers go home,” the Associated Press reported.

Trump said in a tweet that the angry crowds were orchestrated.

“I can assure you, we are not all losers,” attorney John Janiszewski said at the Novi meeting, according to a report in The Novi News. “We are simply citizens who ask to be engaged.”

He said residents of Trott’s district deserve to know his position on Trump’s agenda and a congressional representative who will act “as a check on executive overreach.”

“Your silence serves as a breeding ground for discontent and damaging assumptions,” Janiszewski said.

Other members of Michigan’s Republican congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg of Tipton, Fred Upton of St. Joseph, Jack Bergman of Watersmeet, Bill Huizenga of Holland and John Moolenaar of Midland, have been met by protesters in recent weeks, the Detroit Free Press reported.

URLs have been claimed, including wheresdavetrott.com and wheresmikebishop.com, which claim the two southeast Michigan congressmen haven’t held town hall meetings since April 2015 and September 2015, respectively. Twitter handles, including #wheresdavetrott and #wheresmikebishop, have been launched in opposition.

Photo of U.S. Rep. Dave Trott and his wife, Kappy (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)