Readers Write: Emmer evades his constituents, Education Department dismantling

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

Last Wednesday evening, U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer held a one-hour telephone town hall meeting (“Emmer cheers on tariffs, Trump’s second term during first telephone town hall,” StarTribune.com, April 3). Constituents in the Sixth District have been asking for an in-person town hall since January. During this meeting, the congressman’s staff carefully screened callers wanting to ask questions. No tough or challenging questions were allowed. Emmer used this opportunity to call constituents who disagree with him bad actors, Marxists and Communists; rail against the media and call Democrats liars.

He did not call out a caller who used the term “generational Minnesotans” — a code word for white. Without context or a question from a constituent, he asserted that trans athletes were responsible for ruining girls’ sports and tampons are now available in boys’ restrooms.

Had I been given the opportunity, I would have commented that, as a 73-year-old with cystic fibrosis, I am alive only due the collaborative efforts by National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration and the fundraising efforts of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. They developed lifesaving medications that keep me and other Minnesotans with this disease alive. I would have asked, “How can you justify supporting funding cuts for this research, and laying off thousands of staff of these lifesaving organizations?”

I am scared and frightened by these actions that threaten my life. My family members have died from cancer, dementia and ALS. Research into these diseases is also being greatly impacted. The impact on our national health will be dire. Sixth District constituents will continue to ask for an in-person town hall meeting with Emmer. We can only hope he will finally agree to hold an honest town hall and not a MAGA event like he held.

Stevo Larson, Monticello, Minn.

•••

I would like to admonish Emmer for his head-in-the-sand phone town hall meeting last Wednesday. I attempted to ask a question by phoning in a few minutes before the start of the meeting and going through a question-screening process performed by an Emmer staff member. I was supposedly put in a queue to be given a chance to ask my question, which concerned my deep displeasure with Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration and the thoughtless slashing of government agencies. I waited the entire hour to be able to ask my question, but was not given the chance. It could have been that there were many in line ahead of me and time ran out. However, every question asked of Emmer was a softball toss that expressed support for the congressman and President Donald Trump’s policies. I find it hard to believe in this day of obvious public unrest over the Republican agenda that staffers, knowing the content of each question, randomly placed constituents in line to speak with the representative. Shame on you, Emmer, for shirking your duty as a representative of the people and ignoring an opportunity to hear and respond to a large chunk of your constituency.

Jan Scholl, Lino Lakes

•••

I was on the telephone town hall hosted by Emmer on April 2, and what a farce. I was also at the town hall held in Monticello, Minn., on Feb. 26, which was put on by Wright County Indivisible and Indivisible North Metro after Emmer refused to meet with constituents in person, or even over Zoom. The two events could not have been more different. Emmer’s telephone town hall was basically a Trump rally, with only two questions that I heard that even had gentle pushback on the Trump administration’s agenda, namely wait times on the phone with Social Security and a bill for funding for veterans.

Everyone else who was allowed to ask questions was supportive or wanting even more from this administration, and it felt like they were very carefully chosen to only give the congressman questions he could easily answer. In contrast, the in-person town hall was full of people who were angry, scared and being hurt due to the unchecked chaos of the Trump administration and its so-called “mandate.” None of those people were allowed a voice at the telephone town hall. Speaking from personal experience, any questions directed at the congressman that are critical of Trump, of which I have left several over the phone, are answered in a condescending, father-knows-best tone, with no real recourse from Emmer for those of us concerned about actions taken by the Trump administration.

Also, the congressman’s choice of a telephone town hall was one of the more spineless actions he has taken. To hide behind a phone and not look his constituents in the eye, even over Zoom, and ignore the concerns of constituents who have a differing opinion to himself, is the height of cowardice and an abdication of his duty to both his constituents and the constitution. Shame on you, Emmer.

Sara Simpson, Chanhassen

•••

One word best describes Emmer’s town hall meeting: lame.

Participants were asked to submit questions to a moderator, who screened the questions. The one question I submitted, asking if Emmer would support an independent investigation of the use of Signal’s messaging service to conduct national security business, was given no response. The meeting was a cheerleading session for the Trump agenda. He claimed Trump’s team works up to 18 hours a day to further the agenda. He marveled at Trump’s stamina, claiming he sleeps only three to four hours per night. He complained about the Minnesota Star Tribune and the “corrupt media” that does not cover the positive outcomes being achieved in the first months of Trump’s term.

I believe that at least some of the questions were planted, because he had lots of numbers and statistics to cite that had been readied for him. The call lasted one hour. He gave lengthy answers that used up time. That was the point: Get through the allotted hour with no in-person interaction with constituents. Now he can check the box for holding a town hall meeting. Shameful.

Deborah Perry, Blaine

•••

To Emmer: If you feel good about the 60-minute call-in town hall that was facilitated for you on April 2 where you addressed 10 cherry-picked questions, then this speaks even greater volumes about just how out of touch you are with your constituents. One of the lucky 10 was the mayor of Blaine talking about “Trump” Highway 65. Don’t you think the mayor of Blaine should have another way of getting in touch with you? People of the Sixth District — whether you voted for Emmer or not — deserve a political representative with the courage to show up in person to address all constituents and the assortment of questions we have. As Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would say, “It’s PATHETIC.”

Kimberly M. Kahat, Lino Lakes

I recently received an email from Emmer’s office discussing Trump’s signing of an executive order to eliminate the federal Department of Education. Emmer erroneously claimed that: “For far too long, bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. have dictated how we educate our children, pushing one-size-fits-all policies that ignore the unique needs of our students and classrooms. For years, we have fought tirelessly to return power in education to where it belongs — with you — parents, teachers, and local school boards who know our students and their educational needs the best.”

I am disappointed that Emmer did not check his facts. Our school curriculum and its dissemination is the purview of each state and school district, as it always has been. In addition, 90% of funds come from local sources (see tinyurl.com/fed-education).

Caryl Bloem, Andover

The writer is a retired teacher.