‘I wish you’d be angry.’ California Democrats face voter fury over Trump, Elon Musk
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- In California’s deep-blue districts, town hall meetings have become venting sessions for voters fed up with Trump, Musk and the weakness of the Democratic Party
- Democratic leaders hope to tap into rage over Trump and Elon Musk to help their party retake the House in the 2026 midterm elections but must first overcome historically bad popularity ratings
About 20 minutes into a town hall in El Monte this week, Melissa Morgan of San Dimas picked up the microphone to address her congressman, Democrat Gil Cisneros.
“You seem like such an affable, kind, nice man,” Morgan said, her voice hesitant at first. “But I am so angry. I am so scared. I feel our democracy is in danger. ... I wish you’d be angry.”
Morgan’s voice grew stronger as she ticked off her fears: that Social Security would be cut, that the national parks system would be ruined, that billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency would “turn on” Americans after accessing their Social Security numbers and employment histories.
“I just wish that the Democrats would match my anger and my fear,” she concluded. The packed room burst into applause.
The Musk-led mass firings of federal workers and the looming threat of cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security have sparked rage and fear among many voters, which they’re directing against lawmakers of both parties.
In California’s deep-blue districts, town hall meetings have become venting sessions for voters fed up with President Trump, Musk and what they see as the weakness of the Democratic Party. Lawmakers have tried to walk the line between showing their own anger and explaining that, with Republicans controlling the House, the Senate and the White House, there’s only so much they can do.
“In the House of Representatives, the majority is in complete control,” Cisneros said, as the crowd in El Monte muttered in displeasure. “We cannot take a bill to the floor to get voted on, because we are in the minority. The only one who makes that decision is the speaker of the House. Anything we do, he’s not going to move it forward.”
The few Republican officials who have held town halls lately have faced raucous crowds. At a recent “community coffee” event in Yucca Valley, GOP Rep. Jay Obernolte of Big Bear Lake faced constituents shouting, “No king! No king!” when Trump was mentioned. And this week, more than 25,000 people called in to a telephone town hall with Northern California Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin).
Most Republicans have not met with their constituents recently, on the advice of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who said that town halls “give the other side sound bites.”
“They’re doing this for the cameras — we all know it,” Johnson said. “I think it’s wise not to play into it right now.”
Republican lawmakers who haven’t held town halls have seen protests outside their district offices. This week, about 200 healthcare workers, their unions and their supporters protested potential cuts to Medi-Cal, as Medicaid is known in California, outside the Anaheim Hills office of Rep. Young Kim.
Josephine Rios, a nursing assistant who has worked at Kaiser Permanente in Orange County for seven years, said she attended the protest on behalf of her 7-year-old grandson, Elijah, who has cerebral palsy.
Rios said she worried that cuts to Medi-Cal would make his medication unaffordable. She said she felt betrayed by Kim, for whom she voted in November.
“Stripping that away from him will make him home-bound,” Rios said. “Stripping his medication is life-threatening.”
The budget blueprint that passed Congress this month calls for $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade. Although Trump has said he doesn’t support making cuts to Medicaid, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has said that reductions of that magnitude would be possible only through such cuts.
Democratic leaders hope that they can tap into the simmering rage over Trump, Musk and DOGE to help their party retake the House in the 2026 midterm elections. But the party first must overcome historically bad popularity ratings.
One CNN poll conducted in early March found that 29% of Americans had a favorable view of the Democratic Party, down from 33% in January.
During a new episode of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast that aired Tuesday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the reason the popularity of Democrats is plummeting is because of the loss of confidence among members of their own party.
“The Democratic Party is unified — they’re unified in being pissed off at the Democrats,” Walz said. And, he added, “they are unified in that Donald Trump’s policies are going to hurt people.”
Doris Anderson, 81, turned away from Cisneros and told the crowd at the town hall that voters should begin an economic boycott of companies like Amazon. Billionaire Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, helped bankroll Trump’s inauguration.
“The Congress, they’re limited in what they can do — but you can stop spending,” Anderson said.
By the end of the town hall, Kaime Welsh, 26, of La Verne, stood up to ask: “Can we list one action that you and the Democrats in Congress have taken? In plain English, no stories, no metaphors. What is one action?”
Cisneros said he’d spoken out against Musk and DOGE from the floor of the House. (In one speech, he described Musk’s efforts as a “coup.”) And, he said, he had joined the Democrats who heckled Trump during the president’s joint address to Congress.
Part of the problem, he said, is that some constituents weren’t hearing about what the Democrats were doing — and others were but felt they didn’t go far enough.
“It is tough, right?” said Cisneros, whose district includes West Covina, El Monte, Baldwin Park and Glendora. “People want the action, but when they see this action, they’re like, ‘Well, that’s not enough.’”
Patrick Fernandez of La Verne told Cisneros that the Democrats were “candy-coating” and “afraid to call things what they are.” That reluctance, he said, “does a disservice not just to us in this moment — it does a disservice to posterity that’s going to be looking back on this moment.”
“Why are we treating this moment as, ‘Maybe we’ll vote them out in midterms’?” Fernandez said. “We can’t bank on the midterms, because as I speak, a South African Nazi and his criminal hackers are raiding federal buildings. That’s not normal. That’s a coup,” he added referring to Musk.
“I agree with you 100%,” Cisneros responded. “Our messaging has not been good.”
Members of the crowd began heckling him again.
Times staff writer Andrew Campa contributed to this report.
