Virginia Republican on Obamacare protesters: "The women are in my grill, no matter where I go"

Rep. Dave Brat spoke at a meeting of conservative groups, pledging his full-throttle support to repeal the ACA

Published January 31, 2017 9:08PM (EST)

In this photo taken Nov. 18, 2014, freshman Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., the economics professor who toppled former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the June GOP primary, in interviewed by The Associated press in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. Five months after his upset of Cantor, Brat comes across as down-to-earth and says his constituents have warned him not to let Washington change him. "Everyone just says, ‘Dave, keep being yourself,’” Brat said in an interview in his sparsely decorated office this week. “‘You better not change. You better keep being Dave.’" (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP)
In this photo taken Nov. 18, 2014, freshman Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., the economics professor who toppled former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the June GOP primary, in interviewed by The Associated press in his office on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014. Five months after his upset of Cantor, Brat comes across as down-to-earth and says his constituents have warned him not to let Washington change him. "Everyone just says, ‘Dave, keep being yourself,’” Brat said in an interview in his sparsely decorated office this week. “‘You better not change. You better keep being Dave.’" (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP)

Speaking at a conservative group meeting, Republican Rep. Dave Brat revealed he has heard fierce opposition to his support of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, saying that "women are in my grill, no matter where I go."

The congressman from Virginia was caught on video encouraging his conservative constituents to match the intensity he has confronted from the left.

"Since Obamacare and those issues have come up, the women are in my grill, no matter where they go," Brat said. "They come up to me: 'When is your next town hall?' And believe me, it is not to give positive input."

Brat insisted that the press was spreading misinformation about the effects of replacing the ACA. He suggested that some of his constituents, who are "usually intelligent," as he described them, have been expressing their contempt for his stance on the health care law. To combat this, Brat called on his audience to speak openly and positively about the repeal of Obamacare.

The congressman, who was just reelected to his second term, has avoided hosting a town hall until after the first 100 days of the Trump administration. This has apparently disappointed some of his constituents who wish to debate the merits of the ACA. On Monday, Brat released a statement on Facebook reaffirming his promise to have a town hall—eventually.

"Over the past couple of weeks my office has been inundated with phone calls, and emails and comments on social media requesting a town hall meeting, and believe me, I fully intend to have plenty of town halls that are open and transparent as soon as our first 100 days agenda is implemented and we come up for a breath of air," he wrote.

In the video which recorded his speech at the conservative group meeting, Brat offered some insight as to who the new president is and which groups he favors.

"Trump is a loyalty guy. He is total about loyalty. Guess who he is most loyal to: the Evangelicals. He knows he got 40 to 50 million votes. So he's totally loyal. He is going to be loyal to Israel. They know that. And that's what I am talking about. He's spreading this kind of message that unifies us all," he said.

Brat then lamented the dissent he has heard from the left, accusing liberals of appropriating Martin Luther King Jr. as their symbolic leader of the resistance against Trump because, after all, the civil rights leader was a Judaeo-Christian.

"He's apart of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. And the left has completely stolen him and said it was about Leftist, Marxist, justice stuff. It is false on its face. He never went outside that Judaeo-Christian line."

Watch his talk below:


By Taylor Link

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Aca Congress Dave Brat Obamacare Republican Party Town Hall Virginia Women's Rights