Turn About’s Fair Play? Tea Party Rep Frank Guinta Heckled At Town Hall Over Medicare

Gosh, politicians must be excited whenever they get a chance to go to a Town Hall event. Just as Democrats were facing angry mobs recently over health care reform, Republicans backing Paul Ryan’s budget plan are getting their share of heat. The star of the latest video in the now blossoming sub-genre of “Government Official Getting Hollered At” movies is New Hampshire Republican Frank Giunta. He faced a notably hostile crowd, getting yelled at by everyone, including a 14-year-old boy.

The Boston Globe has a write up of the event. This brief anecdote demonstrates the wide spectrum of angered attendees:

“A 73-year old man stood up and criticized the plan to cut Medicare, which has become one of the most controversial aspects of the budget blueprint that was drafted by Representative Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, and approved earlier this month by the House.

‘Why congressman Guinta?’ he said. ‘Why in the world did you ever vote for the Paul Ryan Medicare plan?’

Guinta began to answer, by saying many of the changes likely wouldn’t be phased in in time to affect him.

‘What about me?’ shouted Joe Platte, an eighth grader from Stratham, NH. ‘I’m 14! What am I going to do?'”

In video of the event from ABC News, one attendee made it clear that there was a sense in the crowd that the Tea Party congressman was merely getting a taste of his own medicine. When a frustrated Giunta tried to settle the audience, the man responded with this:

“Listen! At the town halls of the previous administration – I went to a lot of town halls with the last person who held your seat and it got ugly. I was threatened with death for wearing a hat with [incumbent Democrat candidate Carol Shea-Porter’s] name on it at an Obama event. So you’ve asked people that we cooperate and we all be nice, but you were swept into office by people that really weren’t nice and you didn’t lift a finger to say, ‘Hey, let’s chill.’ And these people were carrying guns! So, it’s a little late for you to be condescending to us!”

This comment was met with a rousing applause from the crowd.

The Los Angeles Times has just released a report on the tons of money that political groups on the left and right are spending for ads about the Medicare issue, so things aren’t likely to get more civil any time soon.

Watch the ABC News video below:

(h/t ThinkProgress)