House Republican Conference Vice Chairman Doug Collins wrote a letter to fellow representatives Friday addressing protesters that blocked several Republican’s local town halls last week.
Reps. Dave Brat and Jason Chaffetz experienced large protests in the past week, although other representatives experienced smaller movements during their respective town hall meetings.
“I’ve seen strong, thoughtful Americans sharing their concerns about the direction of our country, and I’m grateful for their openness,” Collins wrote in the letter. “We have been charged with holistic reform. And to the extent that we are leading our communities in a new direction, we remember—with sadness—that, because a broken system became the status quo, even those who have suffered under that brokenness may resist its repair.”
“Remember that, unlike our friends across the aisle, we aren’t grasping for relevance in communities across the nation,” Collins reminded fellow lawmakers. “Conservatives are today’s thought leaders because we are the careful listeners, and people have placed their confidence in us for this reason.”
With that in mind, Collins encouraged fellow Republicans to meet the protesters, and to remind them that Republicans won the vast majority of elections in 2016.
The Democratic National Committee still has to elect a chair, as a contentious election pits the establishment of the party against the progressive wing. The Republican National Committee recently announced a fully-staffed national campaign team ahead of the 2018 mid-term elections.
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