Senator Mark Kelly held a town hall meeting with constituents, addressing healthcare, immigration enforcement, and his ongoing conflict with President Donald Trump's administration.
The Arizona senator met with dozens of people ahead of a congressional vote to extend the Affordable Care Act for 3 more years. Kelly expressed skepticism about Republican support for the legislation.
"I didn't have a lot of high expectations for my Republican colleagues to vote for this," Kelly said. "They've been trying to kill the Affordable Care Act for years and have had multiple dozens of votes against it."
Kelly challenged his Republican colleagues to choose between supporting working Americans or wealthy interests.
"Are they going to stand with hardworking folks trying just to be able to get some form of health insurance? Or are they going to stand with the wealthiest Americans?" Kelly said.
Republicans in Congress, including Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, shared their thoughts on protecting healthcare in a separate interview earlier this week.
"We've got to help people be able to afford the necessities of life and just get by day-to-day," Hawley said. "There's no better place to start than healthcare."
This marked Kelly's first town hall since President Donald Trump accused him of treason and suggested he should be hanged after the senator said U.S. troops should refuse unlawful orders. Kelly said he won't be deterred by what he called intimidation tactics by the President.
"I'm not going to be bullied by this guy, Donald Trump, because he's in the White House," Kelly said. "He thinks we all need to do what he says."
Kelly criticized Trump's approach to political opposition, calling it unconstitutional.
"If he doesn't like what you say, he's going to come after you," Kelly said. "That's wrong. It's unconstitutional."
The senator also addressed ICE operations in Arizona after agents were spotted in Tucson this morning, leading to protests. Kelly criticized the lack of coordination with local officials and the agency's tactics.
"You have ICE agents that come into communities not only in Tucson but across the country with no name tags, masks, not making it clear to the local community," Kelly said. "The mayor certainly didn't know that this was going to happen at this place."
Kelly accused the administration of expanding beyond its stated goals of targeting criminals.
"He said he was going to try to deport criminals. And now he's raiding schools and tearing apart communities," Kelly said.
Mayor Regina Romero and congressional candidate JoAnna Mendoza also attended the town hall.
As the event concluded, Kelly delivered a direct message to Trump about his intentions moving forward.
"I'm not going anywhere. And I'm going to continue to push back on him and his administration when they're doing things that are unconstitutional and unlawful," Kelly said.
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