Senator Andy Kim called the town hall the “quintessence of American tradition.” It was shortly before he found himself in the transition to the packed audience of Cherry Hill East High School towards a man who grabs him for 10 minutes to his town hall on Tuesday evening, which attracted almost 400 people.
“Yes, sir, did you want to tell me something?” Kim (D., Nj) asked the man who got up and shouted in defense of President Donald Trump, wearing a shirt with a curse before “Hamas”.
After Kim calmed the crowd, he paraphrased Fr. Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
“This does not mean that we reduce water or reduce the intensity, thanks to which we want to protect our country, but it allows us to take this breath,” he added.
Then Kim He spent half an hour, specifying his fears that Trump was abusing his power and cutting the separation of power specified in the constitution.
For many in the audience who she was a celebrity. He was on a convenient territory at the Alma Mater high school, where the student who introduced him called him a “legend.” She said that Kim makes her proud of being an American and that she offers “light” in uncertain political times.
He was greeted with roaring applause when he entered the room soon after 19:00, someone shouted that he loved him, another thanked him. He was warmly received by many participants all night.
Kim asked questions for about an hour and a half, both in the town hall format and from the members of the audience who crouched around him after the event.
A misunderstanding about Kim’s vote towards Israel
The most controversial problem of the night: Israel.
Kim joined 13 other Senate Democrats at the beginning of this month in a failed vote retain military For Israel in an effort led by Senator Berni Sanders, independent of Vermont, satisfaction of some voters and frustrating others.
One participant booed the other who said that Kim showed “moral brightness” with his voice. Others shouted “Free Palestine” after a man defended Israel.
Kim said he was afraid that the approach of Prime Minister Trump and Israel Benjamin Netanyahu to Gaza – like talking about “Gaza Riviera “ – It is “very dangerous” and discount earlier progress in the direction of “any sense of regional normalization” in the Middle East.
He argued that “resumption of violence” drives Hamas’s ability to regroup and that “there is no military solution” that would fully break the terrorist organization. He said that while a two -state solution is currently “far from reality”, which “should not stop us from trying to continue” a lasting peace.
“I don’t want you to read my actions, saying that there is an easy solution to what is happening,” said Kim.
“America first” or “America itself?”
Kim said he was afraid that the views of “America” ​​of Trump’s “America” ​​will cause weaker “America”.
He quoted a private conversation in which the foreign leader asked if He could count on the United States fulfilling the collective NATO defense clause. Kim said she couldn’t give him confidence. Shortly afterwards Trump He publicly questioned the pact.
“Regardless of where you are in a political spectrum, you can’t say now that we are a reliable partner,” she said Kim. “It’s so sad.”
He said that he perceived cuts at the American International Development Agency (USAID) and the Department of State for reducing “our ability to lead”.
“We cannot treat for the grave of our strength and our ability to be a world leader,” she said Kim. “Otherwise we’ll see how quickly it disappears.”
Fears from tariffs to the town hall and transgender rights
One participant encouraged Kim to make more town hall in constituencies based on republican.
Another said he was nervous about the influence of tariffs on her petite company.
One of the lawyers wanted KIM support in the case of provisions required verification of the age of pornography, and the military veteran expressed concern that the government’s effectiveness department access to its medical data.
A transgender activist said that he was afraid of anti-transgender moods adopted by the Trump administration.
“I would like to have words to be able to give you and others, saying that we can guarantee this sense of security,” said Kim. “But as we said, when we live in dangerous times, I don’t want to say things that I can’t say 100% truth, and I think that this makes it a terrifying moment.”
