Last week, several town halls were held in North Carolina as communities across the state and the U.S. are growing more concerned about the Trump administration’s harmful policies.
Several hundred people attended a town hall in Charlotte directed at a cardboard cutout of Senator Thom Tillis, who was invited but was not in attendance. A coalition of local groups, including Indivisible Charlotte, Common Cause NC, Red Wine & Blue NC, Democracy North Carolina, and New Rural Project, hosted the “Empty Chair Town Hall.”
“It’s important for people to feel like they’re being heard,” Janice Robinson, the NC Director of Red Wine & Blue, told WBTV.
The day prior in West Charlotte, over 100 union members hosted a town hall featuring workers, faith leaders, and organizers speaking out against Trump’s second administration, which has deeply impacted working North Carolinians and their families through its latest federal purge and program cuts.
“I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, everything in between, the common thread is that these cuts touch every single one of us in this country. If you listen to Trump and Elon Musk and DOGE, they want you to believe this is about some DC, quote, ‘bureaucrat,’ some number on a spreadsheet. Well, that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is about real people,” stated Liz Schuler, President of AFL-CIO, during the town hall.
The town hall was set up for North Carolinians to voice their concerns to Sen. Thom Tillis, who has supported the Trump administration’s agenda. Tillis did not accept the AFL-CIO’s invitation, resulting in organizers placing a cardboard cutout of the senator onstage.
“This is not the first time Tillis hasn’t shown up,” stated Rev. Dr. Rodney Sadler, Union Presbyterian Seminary of Charlotte, during the town hall. “ I remember going to the General Assembly building when he was in the General Assembly and trying to track him down and having him sneak out the back door of his office to run away from us when we were there with the Moral Monday movement. So this is habitual for him. I don’t think we should ever elect anyone who doesn’t want to hear from the people.”
In Pittsboro, North Carolina Congresswoman Valerie Foushee, joined by state House Minority Leader Rep. Robert T. Reives II, Karen Howard, the chair of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, and over 100 residents, held a town hall to condemn Trump’s attack on democracy.
“What we are currently facing is truly unprecedented. The stakes are high, and the urgency is real. This is a moment where we all need to show up, speak out, and stand together,” Foushee stated during the town hall. “The American people cannot afford this extreme agenda, and frankly, our democracy cannot afford this extreme agenda either. Our country is facing a constitutional crisis, one that demands urgent action.”
In North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, Democrats also hosted a town hall as part of “The People’s Town Hall” campaign. North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, and Minority Leader Reives talked with residents in the Republican controlled district, addressing concerns over the impact of Trump’s federal cuts and the refusal of Republican representatives to hold in-person town halls.
“This isn’t about Democrats versus Republicans, it’s about the people versus the problem,” Frost stated. “This movement is about addition not subtraction.”
