Constituents vent anger at 'Cardboard Tony' at De Pere town hall
Congressman Tony Wied was a no-show after being invited to the event. He has yet to hold an in-person town hall.
Frustrated constituents of Congressman Tony Wied showed up en masse for a town hall meeting on Friday night in De Pere.
More than 100 people filled the De Pere Community Center to vent their frustrations at a cardboard cutout of Wied, who has refused to hold one town hall meeting since he was elected last year.
Wied was invited by the event hosts, Dr. Kristin Lyerly – Wied’s opponent in November – Mark Becker, host of the Rational Revolution podcast, and Julie Hancock, newly elected chair of the 8th Democratic Congressional District. One constituent noted that Wied apparently was home at the time; his car was seen in the driveway of his house less than a mile away from the Community Center. But he was a no-show.
A constituent talks about the impact of Medicaid on Wisconsinites' lives.
Nearly two dozen constituents spoke at the event, lining up behind a mic’d-up podium during the nearly two-hour event. Many were veterans furious at the Trump administration’s cuts to the Veterans Administration; others were irate over the projected nearly $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid. Others still were fed up with the GOP’s – and Wied’s – refusal to hold Trump to account for his executive overreach and defiance of the courts.
The event was kicked off by a couple of rousing songs from the Raging Grannies, a quartet of women who travel around singing humorous, but pointed, protest songs.
When the constituents spoke, they often looked at the cutout of Wied, with some addressing him as Cardboard Tony.
Left: A veteran asks the 'Cardboard Congressman' about cuts to the VA; right: Mark Becker, Kristin Lyerly and Julie Hancock emcee the town hall in De Pere on Friday night.
One veteran said he’s finally been able to move forward with his life after receiving treatment and compensation the past two years.
“And now some unelected South African billionaire ketamine addict is illegally slashing my hard, fought and earned benefits,” he said before turning to the Wied cutout. “Why have you not stood up as our advocate in Congress to speak out against these illegal, immoral and illicit actions by an outside pseudo agency with no oversight and no security clearance?”
Another talked about understaffed medical clinics, crisis lines that go unanswered and delayed benefits.
“This isn't about being efficient,” she declared. “It's not about budgets. It's about lives. And right now, those lives are being lost while people in power act like cutting corners is a solution. It's about murder. Congressman, we might not be here today, but he needs to hear this. We kept our promise, we sacrificed, we served, and now we're asking you to do the bare minimum and just show up.”
One constituent wondered where the elderly will go if nursing home funding gets cut and demanded Wied “get a heart and find your soul.”
Voter suppression was on the mind of several folks, with one angry at the cynicism behind the SAFE Act that will force people to show their birth certificate if they have had a name change. But it won’t just be married women impacted, one said.
“We also need to be extra aware of how it affects trans people,” they said. “I have to continue to use a name that doesn't work, because I know that that's what they're going after, because I read Project 2025.”
Project 2025 was also on the mind of a school principal who warned that the eventual repeal of Brown vs. The Board of Education, which outlawed segregation in public education in 1954, was a real possibility.
“It stood for 70 years with many challenges. But, with no-strings attached block grants it could go the way of Roe v Wade.”
Another on hand claimed Wied was only in office because of an endorsement from President Trump, meaning he effectively “bought his seat.”
One reminded Wied that he worked for all of his constituents, not just those that voted for him.
“You don’t work for Donald Trump,” they said. “You work for us. And I feel the least you can do is listen to us.”
Finally, there was an array of folks outraged at the GOP’s refusal to hold Trump to account for his autocratic leanings.
“You're passively allowing one man to seize all the power to control the country, which is the definition of a dictatorship, not a democracy” they said. “Stop being negligent to your elected role and your oath to the Constitution and restore the checks and balances to this corrupt president's abuse of power and his unjustified use of emergency powers.”
