On March 6th, we joined 300+ of our friends and neighbors in a protest outside of the Tidewater Inn in Easton, where Rep. Andy Harris was having a fundraising event. Last night, March 13th, another protest greeted Rep. Harris on Route 50 in Cambridge, at the entrance to the Hyatt. Protesters gathered to show Mr. Harris that we aren’t happy with him, to encourage a Town Hall and to shine a big, bright light on the many, many terrible things coming out of DOGE and the Trump administration.
At the Cambridge event, Mr. Harris was asked about the protests, two in a week, and he reached into the old bag of tricks and said that he didn’t believe that those gathered were constituents, that he believed many were bused in and paid $40 for participating. That’s a golden oldie! When asked for the source of that information, he simply said that he learned it “from someone in DC who knows”.
For the record, hundreds of us from Talbot, Dorchester, Caroline, Kent, and Queen Annes gathered days earlier to prepare. I spotted no buses and no paid actors. It’s a tired old ruse to say that protesters are bused in. Also, during the Q&A, Harris said that his primary job is to further President Trump’s agenda, not to represent his constituents or to protect the Constitution, but to do the bidding of the POTUS. Funny, I thought that Harris AND the POTUS work for We The People. Another questioner asked Harris about his recent statements declaring Russia a US enemy and how that jives with mixed signals coming from the White House. Harris became a little combative and asked the questioner if she believed what she’d heard the president say when he said that Russia didn’t attack/invade Ukraine… he asked, “Do you believe everything the President says? Do you believe him just because he said it?”.
Oh boy, I wish Andy had asked me that question! TOWN HALL NOW!
Rick Hughes
Easton
Michael Davis says
Andy can’t even come me up with an original thought. The idea that protesters are all foreigners paid by George Soros (conveniently who is Jewish) has played over and over again going back to Trump 1.0. Republicans frequently repeat it, just like The Big Lie. There is NO evidence that is true, but fits the paranoia and Antisemitism of the Republican Party
Andy should hold a town hall and then his staff can check attendees and I’m sure they’ll find all are from Andy’s district. He ignores facts by avoiding town halls.
Glenn Baker says
I will pay $100 to anyone who can provide a recording of Rep. Harris making the following statement as provided by Mr. Hughes in his letter.
“during the Q&A, Harris said that his primary job is to further President Trump’s agenda, not to represent his constituents or to protect the Constitution”
Or is this another from the “old bag of tricks” by the Democrats? (Russian collusion, laptop etc.)
Ron Ketter says
I was at the Easton protest, I am a constituent of Andy Harris (unfortunately), no one paid me nor was I bused in for the event. On the other hand, Harris made that comment at an event where his wealthy donors were paying him hundreds of dollars each so he wouldn’t have to meet his constituents and address their concerns.
William Keppen says
Andy Harris-ment is a disgrace to the office that he and many other congressional Republicons hold in the Congress of the United States. I don’t know how he and his supporters can look themselves in the mirror any time of day. This missive will likely not get posted, but it is heartfelt and sincere.
Ann P Farrell says
Who are the voters who elect Harris year after year, in spite of his obnoxious behaviors, votes against interests of his constituents and current loyalty to a clearly destructive POTUS? He seems out of character with most people in his district on eastern shore and Baltimore County.
Now Harris is using a lame, cowardly Fox/MAGA talking point that protestors are paid antagonists in order to avoid facing reality regarding the level of voters’ discontent and refusing to hold in-person town halls he’s long avoided.
Wilson Dean says
As this letter points out, Andy Harris appears to have a very distorted vision of what being a Representative in Congress means and who he is actually supposed to represent. His words only confirm why the Eastern Shore needs to send Harris packing and find someone with integrity to take his place.
We saw only neighbors at the demonstration in Easton. Harris’ comment that protestors must have been bused in and paid to be there clearly shows how shallow and disingenuous he is. To try to discredit the validity of people who think differently from him only highlights his role as a Trump cult follower, not a representative for all the people on the Eastern Shore.
Rick Hughes says
For the record, I used quotation marks (“Do you believe everything the President says? Do you believe him just because he said it?”) because I thought I’d recalled Andy’s words exactly. However, after listening again to his interview, this is not a direct quote, but it does accurately represent the exchange and the gist of his questions.
Francine DeSanctis says
First of all, I am surprised that Andy actually attended TWO town hall events! What a record! The absurdity of his answer to allegiance is un-American. Does he just ignore the ” we the people” part of the Constitution? Did he ever read the Constitution? He does NOT work for the President. The answers he gave to real concerns is tiresome. We’ve heard this for 10 years. I doubt that Harris has any thoughts of his own. Please can’t District 1 find any other candidates???
Rebecca Ellison says
The event in Easton was a private Tidewater Inn fundraising party for donors, probably by invitation, on PRIVATE PROPERTY, heavily guarded by Easton Police etc.
The event in Cambridge was a Hyatt Hotel PRIVATE PARTY for Chamber of Commerce members … also on private property and also probably by invitation only. Also heavily guarded.
NEITHER COULD HAVE BEEN CALLED A REAL TOWN MEETING in the common sense of the word … except that, technically, they were held in or near a town and that they were held for the purpose of people meeting.
TOO BAD THOUGH THAT the only constituents allowed to meet with their representative were so limited in their views and pre-selected (based on their views) … and that that arrangement was created by our representative snd maintained by police presence.
Andy Harris is charged with representing ALL of us .. as are the police.
I attended both protests … there was NO BUSING. Private meetings are not town halls … There need to be real (open to the public) town halls!
Peggy Waltrich says
My husband and I are on that photo and we live in Talbot County. We definitely were not bused in!
Rick Hughes says
To Glenn Baker: In response to your comment, and in furtherance of my subsequent statement below on March 14 at 6:22pm, I unintentionally added quotation remarks, in wrong places. Andy’s actual comment was “I’m just going to do the work for my constituents, advance Mr. Trump’s agenda…I’m just going to work to advance his agenda, that’s what I’m laser focused on.” This can be heard here https://soundcloud.com/whcp-radio/andy-harris-press-gaggle-post?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing at minute 2:00-2:12. My error was in adding the quotations in my original Letter to the Editor, I was paraphrasing, because what I meant to say was that Andy said he is working to advance Trump’s agenda and the work of his (select) constituents, but he didn’t mention the Constitution as part of his laser focus. Advancing Trump’s agenda is not doing work for THIS constituent – me – and many, many others, nor is it necessarily protecting the Constitution – which is what Andy’s oath of office requires above and beyond just allegiance to the agenda of any president. We are a mixed bag of people in District 1 and many of us do not feel that we are being adequately represented and want the opportunity to voice those concerns. I recognized my original error immediately, but there was no way to edit my submission before publication, so I added the other comments in the thread. I hope this clarifies. I did not intend to misquote. I typically take time to digest my thoughts, but hearing the old “bused in, paid protestors, not my constituents” comment fired me up. It happens. That said… the protestors were not bused in or paid, Trump was not elected by some historic super mandate which the president often touts, and representing constituents goes far beyond partisan politics and every constituent deserves to be heard and every elected official should take time to listen to viewpoints they may not agree with, but cannot understand without dialogue.