The Clarksville NAACP is opposing U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn’s visit Monday to Austin Peay State University, according to an article in The Leaf-Chronicle.
The group said in a press release sent to The Leaf-Chronicle that Blackburn (R-TN) refuses to host a town hall meeting to address concerns of Montgomery County residents. However, Blackburn was quoted as saying she has offered to meet with the group’s leaders but they have declined.
“This press release misrepresents the willingness we have displayed to sit down and have a conversation,” she said.
Leaders with the NAACP said they didn’t want to meet with Blackburn on their own because it wouldn’t afford an opportunity to address the concerns of the entire community.
Blackburn will be in Clarksville Monday to host the 4th annual Congressional Leadership Summit for high school juniors and seniors.
In February, Blackburn hosted a town hall in Fairview in Williamson County where she faced protesters, few of whom were from the Fairview community.
The Tennessee Star reported earlier on how those on the left are organizing online to disrupt town halls and other forums, in some cases traveling far from where they lived to attend.
The left has attempted to turn the traditional town hall meetings held by members of Congress during recess periods in their home districts into pure political theater designed to advance an anti-Trump narrative.
Many Republican members of Congress, recognizing that these protesters have little desire to participate in the traditional purpose of town halls–an open and frank exchange on important public policy issues–have modified their own approach to constituent interaction in response. One popular and effective tactic that appears to be increasingly adopted by Republican members who have been targeted by the left for such disruptive political theater has been to hold frequent private meetings with constituents by appointment.
