Florida GOP official calls booing town hall attendees ‘children’

A county GOP executive in Florida on Saturday called booing attendees at a town hall “children” after he made the claim that the Affordable Care Act requires seniors seeking medical treatment go before a “death panel.”

“Here’s the problems I have with the Affordable Care Act. Number one, there is a provision in there, that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel,” Pasco County GOP secretary Bill Akins told participants at a town hall event for Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.).

The crowd immediately began jeering Akins for the statement, which echoed a 2009 claim by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. PolitiFact named the “death panels” claim its “lie of the year” in 2009.

Some at the town hall on Saturday shouted “no” and called the county GOP official a “liar.”

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“They do,” he said, amid the boos. “Yes, they do. It’s in there folks. You’re wrong.”

“OK, children; all right, children,” he added.

Bilirakis sent several tweets at the town hall: 

It’s my duty to hear you out, even if we may disagree. I want today’s town hall to be constructive and I want to find common ground. https://t.co/6p5xMwz7Oy

— Gus Bilirakis (@RepGusBilirakis) February 11, 2017

In 09 Dems passed ACA w/o listening to the people first. Held town halls after it became law. I want to do it differently & gather input now pic.twitter.com/6UnwwZa3M8

— Gus Bilirakis (@RepGusBilirakis) February 11, 2017

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) faced similar outrage at a town hall meeting on Thursday, when protesters began booing and shouting at the congressman for not being more critical of President Trump and, at one point, saying that the president is exempt from conflict of interest laws.

Chaffetz dismissed the protesters on Friday, saying that he believed they were paid to disrupt the meeting without offering evidence.