On Tuesday, a large group of protestors gathered in the downtown Gainesville square to demand a town hall with Georgia's Representative for District 9 Andrew Clyde.
Eric Towers, a Rabun County resident, said he was protesting Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.
“We are out here to protest the fact that Andrew Clyde will not have a town hall, and we are also protesting Elon Musk, an unelected official. And this is what democracy looks like,” Towers said.
Towers added that he has seen prices for goods go up and believes the Trump administration is to blame.
“What I have seen is grocery prices going up. I was at Walmart this morning, eggs were more than five dollars a dozen. Groceries are going up. Gas is going up. And you talk to the people in the trades in Rabun County and lumber and pipe, everything's going up, we need to figure out why and put a stop to it. And I think it's tariffs and Elon Musk,” Towers said.
George and Marilyn Langford came from Cleveland to join the protest.
Marilyn who is a former federal employee, said she had found no record of Clyde holding a town hall, but he is obligated to listen to their demands.
“Why can't you see what Trump is doing to our nation? Why are you so blind to him? You know, forget about the beef that I have with him about his gun stance, machine gun Clyde. Forget about that. But he is just so devoted to Donald Trump, and Donald Trump is destroying our world as we know it, and people must wise up, or we are in deep trouble,” Marylin said.
George, who is the former director of claims and appeals for the Georgia Department of Veteran Services, talked about how veterans are being hurt by the current administration.
“Well, 30% of the federal employees are veterans. 53% of those veterans are disabled veterans, according to federal law, that is a protected class,” George said. “But 53% of the veterans that work for the federal government are being discriminated and fired. Well, it's ridiculous.”
George said Clyde should be standing up for veterans.
“Before there was a term like DEI, disabled veterans were set aside as a special class because its an earned benefit. So it's a very unfair attack on disabled veterans, and it's stupid Congressman Clyde is a veteran, and he should be shouting from the rooftops disabled veterans are being mistreated right now by his party,” George said. “My guess is I don't agree with him politically, but I doubt that he disagrees with me on that subject, and he needs to say it.”
Marilyn said the group is planning on organizing another protest.
In a statement to AccessWDUN Clyde said “I’m honored to represent the Ninth’s voice and fight for our shared values in Congress. I encourage folks to contact my office to share any comments, questions, or concerns they may have about my work on their behalf.”
