Blum walks out on TV interview, into angry town hall

Monday proved to be a tough start to the week for Republican Rep. Rod Blum, who walked out of a television interview hours before facing a hostile crowd at a town hall meeting — and he still has three more Eastern Iowa town halls to go, including one Tuesday night in Cedar Rapids.

Blum was re-elected in November to a second term representing Iowa's 1st District, a 20-county swathe that narrowly voted for President Donald Trump last year after supporting Barack Obama in 2012. Blum is a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus who had initially declined to support the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act, but ultimately voted last week for the American Health Care Act.

He has been under fire for months from critics about why he has avoided holding public meetings with constituents when others elected to federal office like GOP Sens, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst have.

With the House on recess this week, he announced he'd hold four — with caveats. First, those attending must RSVP in advance. Second, they must present IDs at the door to prove they live within the 1st District.

Blum is scheduled to hold his second town hall tonight (Tuesday) in Cedar Rapids. It'll be at 7 p.m. at Kirkwood Community College Johnson Hall Gym, 6301 Kirkwood Blvd. SW, Doors open at 6 p.m.

Those planning to attend must RSVP at blum.house.gov/townhall or call (202) 225-2911. Then they must bring a photo ID with an address matching the RSVP or some other proof of current residence, such as a utility bill, and a photo ID.

The Gazette plans to show the town hall after 7 p.m. on Facebook Live. It will be available at The Gazette's Facebook page and at thegazette.com.

Before his first town hall Monday night, Blum sat — briefly, as it turned out — for an interview with ABC affiliate KCRG-TV9.

Footage of the combative interview first aired just before the town hall meeting started, but has since been aired nationwide.

The reporter, KCRG's Josh Scheinblum, asked Blum about his decision to hold four town hall meetings this week and why his staff was prescreening attendees.

'Some would make the case that you represent all Iowans ... Shouldn't all Iowans have a voice at the table or at least have the option to?' Scheinblum asked.

'I don't represent all Iowans — I represent the 1st District of Iowa,' Blum said. 'That would be like saying, 'Shouldn't I be able to, even though I live in Dubuque, be able to go vote in Iowa City during the election because I'd like to vote in that district instead?''

'Would you still take donations from a Republican in Iowa City?' Scheinblum asked.

Blum smiled, stood up and removed his microphone.

'This is ridiculous. This is ridiculous. He's just going to sit here and badger me,' Blum said as he walked away.

Scheinblum stayed seated, asking Blum to come and finish the interview. Blum headed for the door and waved him off.

'Would I take donations?' Blum said. 'Wow.'

Blum raised more than $1.8 million during his 2016 re-election campaign. His top two donors were out-of-state entities: a PAC controlled by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, and the conservative Club for Growth. His next three most generous donors were Iowa-based companies, according to Federal Election Commission data reviewed by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

When a constituent later asked Blum whether he would decline to take out-of-district campaign donations if he's barring out-of-district Iowans from attending his town halls, he demurred.

'This is an official event as a congressman, this isn't a political event — so when we're talking about contributions coming from outside the district, that's a political thing,' he told the crowd in Dubuque.

That sparked a wave of boos.

Blum continued: 'The Democrat opponents I've ran against the last two cycles have far outraised me both those cycles, and more of their money has come from outside the district than mine.'

Asked in an interview about the TV dust-up, Blum said he had agreed to be interviewed by KCRG during a visit to the Dubuque Dream Center that assists lower-income, mostly African American children in the city. He said that the station also wanted to interview his wife, Karen, about being a congressional spouse.

'Well, we get there and we were ambushed; they didn't want to do anything on the Dream Center ... that became apparent very quickly,' Blum said. 'It was very apparent that he had an agenda. It's my right to say that this interview is over.'

The Washington Post contributed to this report.