Whereas Congress is out of session this week, a Home Republican encountered a hostile crowd at a heated city corridor assembly in Bellevue, Nebraska, Tuesday night time – a bitter reception which will preview the tenor different lawmakers may face heading into the midterm elections.
Rep. Mike Flood confronted repeated boos and shouts from viewers members as they pressed him on the SAVE America Act, Israel, NATO, the bipartisan housing invoice, the Trump administration’s insurance policies and extra, as seen on video of the city corridor recorded by ABC affiliate KETV in Omaha.
Whereas it is unsure what number of within the viewers had been constituents, Tuesday’s contentious occasion wasn’t the primary time Flood has discovered himself earlier than indignant crowds at city halls. Flood was shouted down and booed in Seward, Nebraska, the place lots of of individuals attended his city corridor Might 28 of final yr, whereas defending the then-proposed One Massive Stunning Invoice Act.
Rep. Mike Flood leaves a gathering of the Home Republican Convention on the Capitol Hill Membership, September 9, 2025.
Tom Williams/AP
The month after Trump signed the invoice into regulation, Flood confronted a hostile crowd as soon as extra throughout an August city corridor in Lincoln because the viewers questioned its impression on Medicaid.
“F—— liar!” one attendee shouted at Flood Tuesday whereas he was discussing violent crime charges declining and the Trump administration’s ongoing deportation efforts.
“Pay attention, violent crime is down – ask the individuals of Washington, D.C., how a lot safer Washington is at this time in comparison with a yr in the past,” Flood stated because the viewers jeered.
“Violent crime is down in American cities. Violent crime is down in New York Metropolis. Lots of people that got here right here that had been committing crimes have both been incarcerated or deported. The numbers communicate for themselves,” Flood stated.
Flood additionally was drowned out by the viewers as he voiced his assist for the proposed SAVE America Act and voter ID legal guidelines – key points which can be a part of President Donald Trump’s coverage agenda.
“What I can not stand is what’s so objectionable about having to indicate a driver’s license, a passport, or a start certificates at your house the place you vote,” Flood stated, because the attendees booed.
The congressman additional stated that whereas Nebraska in his “opinion” offers with “little” election fraud, he added, “when individuals imagine that our elections are safe, it breeds respect for the regulation, our democracy, our nation, our election leaders. There are such a lot of advantages.”
A person within the viewers demanded the congressman clarify the proof he has to again up claims of election fraud, which Trump continues to advertise with out proof to assist his claims. Flood pushed again, saying he believes Joe Biden was duly elected president within the 2020 election.
”I’ve by no means argued that there was an inaccurate consequence, and I at all times acknowledged Joe Biden was our president, so I’m not a congressman that has ever made that declare,” Flood responded.
Constituents additional heckled Flood when the congressman stated, “I wish to be very clear: We now have no larger ally within the Center East than Israel,” prompting loud boos from the viewers.
“What occurred in Israel was horrific,” Flood stated, referring to the Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel by Hamas. “If that had occurred on our soil, we as People would stand up and remove that risk.”
Because the dialog continued to scrutinize the Trump administration’s international coverage, Flood additionally appeared to defend the administration’s actions in Iran.
“We have to end the job. We can’t put up with a regime that within the final 12 months has killed 45,000 of their very own individuals. That’s fallacious. We now have to have ethical readability right here,” he stated. “I assist Israel.”
Whereas Trump attends the NATO Summit in Turkey, Flood stated he totally helps the alliance, declaring it “has contributed drastically to the safety of the world. I believe they’re an vital a part of us.”
Flood obtained a extra constructive response relating to different subjects, equivalent to when he referred to as Russian President Vladimir Putin “a thug” and voiced his assist for Ukraine. He additionally earned some applause when he expressed confidence that the bipartisan housing invoice at present on Trump’s desk will grow to be regulation.
“If [Trump] would not signal it, it turns into regulation, and the excellent news about that is subsequent week it is prone to be a public regulation,” he stated. “That is what I am specializing in – bipartisan commonsense outcomes.”
Nevertheless, when Flood introduced up the One Massive Stunning Invoice Act, which incorporates large cuts to authorities advantages equivalent to Medicaid and SNAP meals help, the viewers loudly booed. A number of constituents raised considerations about dropping SNAP advantages beneath the brand new regulation.
“I need individuals which can be meals insecure to get assets. I additionally need individuals which can be able-bodied and may work to work. In case you do not work, you should not anticipate free healthcare,” Flood stated.
Flood’s feedback about Medicaid prompted one viewers member to shout “tax the wealthy” in response.
