During telephone town hall, Rep. John McGuire defends Trump Administration on immigration, federal cuts, tariffs

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Behind the screen of a cell phone, it was an evening of back and forth amongst Fifth District Representative John McGuire and his dialed-in constituents on Tuesday, May 6.

For months now, McGuire has been under fire from his constituents for not meeting them in-person.

While he is yet to agree to this, McGuire did take questions over the phone.

“It is an honor to hear from you. I am happy you all joined my telephone town hall,” McGuire said over the phone.

During the hour long conversation, almost all of the questions asked centered around decisions coming out of the Trump Administration. That included recent Republican initiatives to let in less immigrants on the southern boarder and deport more people who are in the U.S. illegally, all of which McGuire applauded.

One caller asked the Congressman what the point is of all these tariff hikes.

“Last year zero countries came to the table to negotiate, now 90 countries are coming to the table trying to eliminate their tariffs on American goods and services,” McGuire responded.

Another asked what’s good about cutting federal programs and workers along with it.

“One of the biggest threats to our national security is our debt and it is unbelievable. We are spending more money that we are making,” McGuire said.

McGuire also mentioned he is a part of the DOGE Caucus and had lots of inside information on what was going on.

Throughout the call, the Congressman never wavered in his support of the President, answering each questions with rhetoric used by the Trump Administration.

“Our country was in decline, and now because of President Trump, we are heading towards a golden age,” McGuire said at one point during the call.

Some phoning in agreed with McGuire’s stances, along with is happening on the federal level.

“We need to keep this DOGE thing,” one caller said.

Then, there were others who held McGuire’s feet closer to the fire.

“Do you think that, your constituents, you’ve actually helped them?,” another caller asked.

This call comes after months of demands from constituents for McGuire to meet them face to face. One group, Indivisible Charlottesville, hosted multiple protests and demonstrations, including an empty chair town hall.

While the Congressman avoided addressing this directly on the call, he did say unprompted that he felts these telephone town halls serve as the most inclusive option.

“Having a mechanism for someone to dial in to a call versus drive hours away is the most efficient way to conduct these sessions,” McGuire said.

In March, it was reported Congressional Republicans are being advised against holding in-person town halls.

Tuesday’s call marks the second time McGuire opted to reach his constituents via cellphone since taking office in January.

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