TOWN OF ALGOMA, Wis. — Kathleen Hallett and her sister Cynthia Moorcroft had never attended a town hall meeting before Friday.
“We felt like we needed to start speaking out,” Hallett explained.
The two women are from Neenah, where they first attempted to attend a listening session.
“We got there at 9:00, and of course it was closed. Then they told us about this one.”
Hallett was referring to the Algoma Town Hall. When the sisters arrived, the line of people stretched out the door.
They got in, but many others were turned away due to full capacity.
The overflow crowd came to share concerns and ask questions of Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman — who represents a good portion of Sheboygan County. He held a listening session for the public.
Like other sessions covered in recent days across the state and country, this one had fireworks too.
OTHER COVERAGE: West Bend voters raise concerns about Pres. Trump and Elon Musk at Republican Congressman's town hall
Attendees brought signs and weren’t shy about expressing their opposition with booing, shouting and sarcastic laughter.
Most of the room expressed their distrust and anger with President Trump’s fast-paced start to his second term.
Topics covered included immigration, welfare programs, and taxes, but Elon Musk received the most reaction.
Watch: Fiery listening session near Oshkosh puts pressure on Republican congressman
“I would like to know what you feel about this issue, that an unelected person has so much power,” Hallett remarked.
Congressman Grothman responded, “I don’t think Elon Musk…he doesn’t have the power to do anything that President Trump does not sign off on.”
I asked the congressman for further clarification: “You mentioned Elon Musk and bringing a fresh perspective. Do you see any issues with his involvement in the White House?”
“Donald Trump has said we’re not going to let him deal with anything that’s going to result in a conflict of interest. There’s no reason to doubt him on that,” he replied.
“But like I said, to have a smart man who’s used to dealing with big budgets and who doesn’t have a preconceived notion that we cannot ever cut a program is a good thing.”
Some attendees were so upset by the Q&A that they left early.
“Bye. I’m sick of this,” one said as he walked out.
Brian Kienert was one of the people initially barred entry to Algoma Town Hall. He was let in once a few spots freed up, with only about 10 minutes left in the listening session.
“The vast majority of people have the same concerns as mine, so that helped put me at ease,” Kienert said.
Congressman Grothman told me he expected the intense energy.
“There are a lot of congressmen who don’t do these meetings anymore. I enjoy doing them.”
But I wondered if the residents in the room felt heard after today.
“I feel motivated to make sure that I attend other meetings and try to get more involved,” Moorcroft said.
Kienert added, “I’m not going to sit back and just assume that it’ll all work out. We are past that.”
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