Republican Congressman Dave Brat, a man who's clearly spent some time browsing through Urban Dictionary, is having a tough go of it dealing with constituents who'd like to keep their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
Speaking at a townhall in Richmond, VA, this past Saturday, Brat described to the audience how, since he and other House Republicans have moved to dismantle the ACA with no apparent alternative to replace it, a number of his constituents (mainly women) have been "in my grill no matter where I go."
“They come up — ‘When is your next town hall,'" Brat said to polite (if awkward) laughter. "And believe me, it’s not to give positive input.”
In a later interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Brat says that the people leaning on him to, you know, do his job and represent their best interests, aren't actually citizens concerned about whether or not they have health insurance, but rather "protestors" and "activists" who were being paid to "go around and raise havoc."
But according to Karen Conley, one of the women who has called Brat's office specifically about the Affordable Care Act, the Congressman's claims of being harassed by paid activists are untrue and dismissive of the real issue at hand.
“Nobody is being paid or put up to this by an outside organization,” Conley said to the Times-Dispatch. “Everybody is putting in their time and effort because they’re dissatisfied with the representation."