Woman with dying husband confronts Tom Cotton: "What kind of insurance do you have?"

Republican lawmakers around the country are facing angry backlash from their constituents over Obamacare and other issues at packed town halls. But an event for Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton on Wednesday night got especially heated.

One voter, her voice raw with emotion, told Cotton that her husband is dying and has Alzheimer’s and other conditions.

“And you want to stand there with him at home, expect us to be calm, cool, and collected? Well, what kind of insurance do you have?” she said, as the crowd erupted.

The woman told Cotton that they currently pay only $29 a month for her husband’s insurance and $39 a month for hers. They can’t afford higher premiums, she said. “If you can get us better coverage than this, go for it,” she said. “Can you beat that? Can you?”

At one point, another attendee asked members of the audience to stand up if they were affected by Obamacare. Nearly everyone did.

As Matt Fuller, a reporter for the Huffington Post, pointed out, a lot of people have gained health insurance under Obamacare in Arkansas — so it’s not surprising that Cotton’s constituents might be angry about the possibility of losing it:

Cotton agreed to hold the town hall at the insistence of Ozark Indivisible, which picketed Cotton’s office earlier this month after he canceled a previously scheduled meeting. Cotton’s office said he wasn’t letting constituents into his office at the time due to “recent threats.” Indivisible is a national network of progressive activists that has been helping local groups organize to attend town halls like these.

Other striking moments from the town hall, which drew more than 1,000 people, included a 7-year-old boy asking why it was more important to Donald Trump to pay for a border wall with Mexico than to fund PBS Kids:

At one point, Cotton was shouted down by chants demanding that Trump release his tax returns:

One woman also made a point of telling Cotton that she was “not a paid protester” — a phrase that President Trump and other Republican lawmakers have used often to dismiss the concerns of the constituents who attend the town halls.

Watch: Obamacare in Trump country

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via