White House Blames Town Hall Crowds On 'Professional Protesters,' Cites No Evidence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blamed paid protesters Wednesday for recent demonstrations against the Republican agenda, which have cropped up at lawmakers' town hall meetings across the country. Despite a significant number of prominent figures making such claims, there's been scant evidence in support.

“Some people are clearly upset, but there is a bit of professional protester, manufactured base in there,” Spicer said. “But obviously there are people who are upset, but I also think that when you look at some of these districts and some of these things, that it is not a representation of a member's district.”

President Trump has made similar claims in the past. "Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters are proving the point of the millions of people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" he tweeted on Feb. 3. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

And on Tuesday, he wrote this:

A major organizing force behind the protests is a group called "Indivisible," a non-profit group that started after a Google Doc detailing steps to oppose the Trump administration went viral. Three former Democratic congressional staffers created the document and then started Indivisible in light of its success.

Though they do take some donations, they are not paid and do not pay their volunteers. They say they've based their efforts on the success of the Tea Party, which opposed President Obama's agenda while he was in office.

Protesters have showed up at town halls across the country. In mid-Feburary, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, faced boisterous protests at a meeting with citizens in his home state:

In a discussion with the local paper Deseret News, Chaffetz denied the sincerity of the protests and said it was "more of a paid attempt to bully and intimidate." Like Spicer and Trump, however, Chaffetz offered no evidence for these claims.

Anne Taylor, a volunteer who has organized others following Indivisible's lead, was asked by CNN how she felt when she was accused of being a paid protester.

"I think it's funny," she told the news station. "I think it's a desperate attempt to delegitimize what they must perceive to be a powerful grassroots movement."

Other protests have sprung up at town halls. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell faced a protester asking him what he would do about coal workers who might lose their jobs and couldn't get health insurance. Rep. Tom McClintock, Rep. Gus Bilirakis and Sen. Deb Fischer, among others, have all faced public opposition. Some have even avoided having town halls altogether to avoid the bad optics.

This led Sen. Ted Cruz's constituents to hold town hall protests without him.

The Washington Post estimated that paying for the level of protests seen would have cost $57.4 million, using conservative guesses. Of course, there's no evidence such payments have been made — and as the Post notes, hiding such a massive payment scheme would be very, very difficult.

Watch Spicer's comments below:

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Photo credit: YouTube Screenshot/CNN