ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A Democratic congressman from California is set to hold a town hall this month in Allentown as part of a tour targeting Republican-held swing districts.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna on Monday announced plans to hold a Benefits Over Billionaires forum this month in Rep. Ryan Mackenzie’s district.
Khanna called out Republicans for shirking their responsibilities by not holding in-person town halls.
The event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. May 17 in the Americus Hotel in downtown Allentown.
“The tour is to make clear that providing tax breaks to billionaires in my district in Silicon Valley at the expense of cutting Medicaid [and] decimating public education … is hurting a lot of people in this country."U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Ca.
Khanna, who went to Council Rock High School in Bucks County, also plans to hold a town hall May 18 at Heritage Hall in Levittown, an area served by Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick.
The Benefits Over Billionaires tour started with town halls in several rural California congressional districts but grew after Khanna’s office fielded invitations from residents in other states, Khanna told LehighValleyNews.com on Tuesday.
His Allentown forum is set to be the sixth stop on his travels.
“The tour is to make clear that providing tax breaks to billionaires in my district in Silicon Valley at the expense of cutting Medicaid [and] decimating public education … is hurting a lot of people in this country,” Khanna said.
He said he’s “sad that the extreme voices are overtaking” the Republican Party.
The fifth-term congressman criticized President Donald Trump and Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, who heads Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Khanna said he hopes his town hall adds pressure on Mackenzie to vote against the “Trump-Musk” agenda, which he said would “gut” programs critical for many Lehigh Valley residents.
'Another fake' town hall: Mackenzie's office
A crowd of more than 100 people stood outside Mackenzie’s downtown Allentown office last week, urging their representative to hold an in-person town hall.
“Come out, come out wherever you are!” they chanted.
“We want a town hall! We want a town hall!”
“At a time when the Democratic Party is the most unpopular that it has ever been on record, it’s not surprising that congressional Democrats are desperate to change the narrative."Arnaud Armstrong, communications director for Rep. Ryan Mackenzie
Arnaud Armstrong, Mackenzie’s communications director, highlighted the freshman congressman’s telephone town hall, his participation in a nationally televised CNN forum and “hundreds of meetings and in-person events throughout the district.”
“At a time when the Democratic Party is the most unpopular that it has ever been on record, it’s not surprising that congressional Democrats are desperate to change the narrative,” he said.
Armstrong slammed Khanna’s planned event as “another fake, partisan so-called town hall” by Democrats.
He referenced a March 21 forum at a South Bethlehem church organized by the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and other groups.
Speakers — including U.S. Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pennsylvania, and Jamie Raskin, D-Virginia, and former Rep. Susan Wild — attacked Republican lawmakers, Trump, Musk and others before the Very Rev. Jon Stratton rebuked his guests for using the Cathedral Church of the Nativity for “a Democratic stump speech.”
Khanna welcomed Mackenzie to join him at the event in Allentown.
“It would be a home run if he shows up to my town hall,” Khanna said.
