Tom Barrett’s office refuses to hold town hall: ‘Wouldn’t be productive’

After voting for a budget plan that will likely cut Medicaid and food stamps, U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI) refused to hold a town hall, claiming “George Soros-backed groups have been storming my office.”

A group of more than 100 people gathered at Barrett’s office in Lansing on Feb. 21 after he and 216 Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives approved a budget that calls for significant spending cuts to Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The crowd reportedly cheered “town hall now,” urging Barrett to face his constituents.

In response to the protest, Barrett’s Press Secretary Michael Gordon reportedly insisted that the Representative was “not hiding,” and that his office refused to organize a town hall because it “wouldn’t be productive.”

“They asked him about a town hall, and he said that if all everyone wanted to do was yell and not discuss, then it wouldn’t be productive,” Gordon said. “He walked outside, and somebody screamed in his face about being a traitor to the nation, and he said, ‘See, how is this productive?’”

On social media, Barrett’s staff dodged claims that he was ducking his constituents by referring to pictures of the representative with other members of the Republican Party, including Dan Schifko. While responding to a comment urging him to engage with the community, Barrett shared a link of him meeting with coffee shop owner Brandon Denby, who was elected as the Livingston County Register of Deeds as a Republican last November. And when a constituent asked on the Schifko post why Barrett was “hiding,” former Barrett campaign treasurer Dan Wholihan said in a now-deleted comment that “he was with his constituents in that picture.”

In a campaign email last Friday, Barrett also accused the protesters of being backed by George Soros.

“George Soros-backed groups have been storming my office, harassing my staff, and are trying to stop President Trump’s efforts to reform our national government,” the email reads.

During his campaign last year, Barrett lamented about many Americans being “hyper focused on tribalism,” calling for more people to come together.

On Tuesday, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) instructed GOP congressmen to avoid doing town halls, saying “the protests at town halls and district offices are going to get even worse.”

Barrett was elected to represent Michigan’s 7^th Congressional District in the U.S. House last November after serving in the state legislature for eight years. He narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Curtis Hertel by 3.7 percentage points after one of the most expensive races of the cycle. Barrett will likely face an uphill battle to retain his seat in the tossup district in 2026.