With Speaker Mike Johnson showing his weak leadership skills in not having his caucus in Washington D.C. to negotiate with Democrats on a bipartisan solution to fund the government and help people keep their health insurance at affordable prices, Arizona House Congressional District Three Representative Yassamin Ansari held a virtual town hall this evening and discussed the Trump-Project 2025-MAGA Republican Shutdown and other topics of concern to her constituents.
During her introductory presentation, Representative Ansari largely repeated statements that she had made just before and during the first hours of the shutdown.
She gave out general office and virtual contact information for constituents to contact her office to express their concerns about the shutdown as it relates to them.
She conveyed that she donated her salary to Wesley Community and Health Centers to help them stay open.
She talked about how the power of the people helped bring back Jimmy Kimmel and how that can be used again to persuade House Republicans like the two running for Arizona Governor, Andy Biggs and David Schweikert, to change their tune on both supporting the Trump-Project 2025-MAGA Shutdown and demanding accountability for the masked ICE agents striking fear on the nation’s streets.
However, the Representative, at another point in the discussion mused that Republican Congressmen are “Much more loyal to the President than to the people they represent”
She later said:
“This is the most authoritarian administration…We are seeing a rogue President who is acting like a dictator…All of the Republicans in Congress who are enabling him…”
On Trump and what he and his people have done to facilitate the shutdown and his actions before, the Congresswoman, during the question and answer session, said:
“In this shutdown everything is connected to one man. Donald Trump. From Epstein files to …Trump is a dictator…He wants this shutdown because he wants to run this country like a king…I stand with those (who have been furloughed…and those who are in danger of losing WIC)…I’m here for you.”
The first part of that quote almost sounded like the scene in Andor when Mon Mothma spoke before the Senate denouncing Emperor Palpatine.
Earlier she said, Trump was an “Authoritarian President who will not even keep his word” and strips funding from Democratically controlled areas.
When discussing Mr. Trumps retribution-vengeance moves against political opponents, the Congresswoman said:
“I am fighting for you every single day…As much as Donald Trump retaliates against his enemies, I am not scared.”
On the Trump regime violating the Hatch Act by publicly blaming the Democrats for the shutdown on government websites and issuing Big Brother fake emails from federal employees with the same lie, Ansari called the actions a “Very dangerous abuse of power…”
When one person asked if Trump and his cabinet would continue to get paid during the shutdown, she said:
“The people causing the dysfunction will not feel the pain…And they play in role in deciding who gets paid…like ICE… but not air traffic controllers.”
When a person asked if their Social Security was in danger, the Representative said:
“You will continue to receive your Social Security because that is mandatory spending.”
She did caution that customer service, already reduced by previous DOGE and Project 2025 cuts, may be jeopardized further if the shutdown continues over a month.
She also said the shutdown would not affect Veterans, Medicare, and ACA enrollment processing.
When someone asked her about the lying narrative Republicans are conveying about Democrats are trying to get Republicans to pay for the health care of illegal immigrants in order to reopen the government, Ansari called it out for the bull fecal matter it is, saying 1.4 million Dreamers and asylum seekers are not illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are not eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, or Obamacare.
Representative Ansari also fielded several questions about ICE-Gestapo activities across the country, discussing the plight of her constituent, Yari, a leukemia patient not receiving proper medical attention at the Eloy Detention Center, saying that they were the result of “a truly evil person in the White House in Stephen Miller, who is telling ICE how to operate” and offering $50,000 in bonuses instead of paying good teacher salaries and safeguarding health care.
She also said that:
- “No parent should have to worry about dropping off their child at school or place of worship” and be taken away.”
- On protecting citizens who look like illegal aliens: “Demand ICE unmask” its people. However, Republicans decide what bills are heard. Condemned Supreme Court decision allowing searches and detainments based on appearance. “We need Republican Congressmen” to come on board with us, she said to make ICE accountable.
- Private Prisons whose owners donated generously to Trump were hoping for more ICE arrests for their domestic concentration camps so they could make profits.
Representative Ansari also took a question on the situation in Gaza, saying she favors a two state solution, calling the situation on the ground for Palestinian children “Devastating,” relaying she has “Little faith” in Trump and Israelis Prime Minister Netanyahu’s efforts to bring peace, and calling for the end of settler violence and land grabbing in the West Bank.
Two questioners asked about why Democrats are not fighting enough with one saying they only person they have heard taking it to Trump was the Congresswoman.
Ansari gently brought up that Democrats in Arizona like Attorney General Kris Mayes and others across the country like Hakeem Jeffries and Jasmine Crockett are consistently pushing back against the Trump Authoritarian machine in the media and the courts.
So is the rest of Arizona’s leading Democrats at the Congressional and State Legislative level.
She did say that the “Democrats are behind on the media ecosystem” and need to make improvements there.
Among her closing comments, Representative Ansari struck an opportunistic tone, saying “We are all in this together,” reminding the callers that call attended that the “Majority of Americans do know…by double digits that this is a Trump shutdown,” and calling on them to:
“Contact your Reps…Get engaged…Protest…Donald Trump is underwater on every single issue…even immigration…ICE is going too far. The Administration is going too far…Run for office…”
Following the virtual downhill, the Congresswoman released a social media video, offering her perspective on the evening’s event and expressing hope after hearing so many people who are fed up with where the Trump Fascists Machine and shutdown is taking the country.
In her post town hall remarks, Representative Ansari said:
“I want to thank everyone for joining. There was so much engagement and interest and really a reminder of how much national politics impacts people at the local level. We heard from a teacher who is terrified because she already pays half of her salary on health care and premiums could double this month. We heard from a lot of people about ICE and fear of ICE going into their schools and churches, and just how rogue ICE has been in assaulting people. We heard about people on Social Security who are worried about not receiving their Social Security, and we let them know that, thank God the SSA (Social Security Administration) will continue to operate. But a lot of questions and a lot of interest and engagement and fighting back. People are sick and tired of Trump’s corruption. Of his authoritarianism. They know that he wants chaos. That he is covering up the Epstein files. That he doesn’t give a shit about people, and they’re sick of it, and I honestly feel encouraged by how many people got on tonight to share their stories and how they’re going to be impacted. But a lot of questions about what can I do from calling your reps to going to peaceful protests to not buying from companies who are enabling this regime to writing letters, speaking up and speaking out boldly and fearlessly. We all have a massive part to play in this, and I will continue to be fearless. I will not back down in this fight and we will do everything we can to make sure that we protect healthcare for people in this country. We’re not going to let people suffer. We’re not going to let people die. So thank you, everyone. You really gave me hope.”
Blog for Arizona did attempt to reach out to Representative Ansari’s team for a followup question on the shutdown but they did not reply.
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