Blum again faces tough crowd in Cedar Falls

CEDAR FALLS - Efforts to ensure U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-Iowa, could answer the most amount of questions during his hourlong town hall without interruption were not successful Wednesday night in Cedar Falls.

Left-leaning activists handed out red and green sheets of paper to show opposition and support, respectively, rather than have audience members express their opinions by booing, jeering or cheering. But that did not stop the interruptions.

The loudest boos of the night were not over something Blum said but rather a comment from Cedar Falls resident Larry Wyckoff, who sported a T-shirt and hat in support of Republican President Donald Trump.

'What I want to ask and profess to say is how positive Trump has made a good impression on America,” Wyckoff said to laughs and jeers and then ultimately boos as he said there were not people from the 'Soviet Union” standing over his shoulder as he voted in November.

Blum, however, had made clear earlier in the town hall at the Cedar Falls High School gymnasium that he thinks there is evidence that Russia did interfere in the 2016 election but that there was not any proof yet whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians.

'So far, so far, there's not been evidence of collusion in the Trump campaign ... Now, is it most likely the Russians tried to influence our election? I think so,” Blum said as a handful of people shouted over his answer.

Blum, a Dubuque businessman, did earn cheers and waving green sheets of paper when he said Congress is currently looking into whether Trump is abiding by what's called the emoluments clause in the Constitution that states the nation's leaders are not allowed to get money or gifts from a foreign state.

But he earned less support when he said there wasn't more to learn about Trump's financial ties by the release of his tax returns. And he received less support still when he didn't support the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate any Trump campaign ties to Russia, noting that two congressional committees and the Department of Justice already have started to look into the issue.

Despite the interruptions, Blum still fielded nearly two dozen questions from the audience of about 750 residents of the 1st District. The congressman's staff required that people present identification to show they reside in the district.

Blum said in a separate interview after the town hall that he did not regret the decision to require that the attendees be district residents. He said he didn't understand why district residents would be upset that it was restricted to them to ask questions of their representative.

Despite the more recent news that Trump had fired FBI Director James Comey, who had been investigating Russian interference in the election, most of the questions at the Cedar Falls event focused on the American Health Care Act and health care issues.

Blum supported the act that will begin to replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Most of the audience did not, based on the number of red sheets they waved during most of his answers to those questions.

'We can talk about the whole health care bill, but I get shouted down when I do that,” Blum said while he was being drowned out trying to answer a question about the impact the bill might have on the children's health insurance program.

His assessment proved correct. More often than not his answers on health care were drowned out by the audience, which left the congressman trailing off his answer and then moving on to take the next question.

Blum, who held his third town hall in as many days, said he was not surprised by the reaction he faced from the crowd Wednesday but said he was disappointed that the 'crowds don't seem to want to listen to what I say,” though he added that they had a right to do so.