‘Gaslit in N.H.: How Dean Phillips’s First Town Hall Turned Sour’

Dean Phillips’ recent town hall has left many New Hampshire constituents feeling as if they just got “gaslit”. The freshman democratic Congressman held a virtual town hall in Manchester recently in order to address the concerns of constituents, but it quickly descended into chaos. Phillips opened the town hall with a 30 minute speech outlining his policy views, specific to New Hampshire, and then proceeded to take questions from attendees. Unfortunately, shortly into the question and answer segment, Phillips began to be bombarded with questions that he was not prepared for—questions that went off-topic to issues that he was not able to provide answers to. Rather than handle the situation with grace and composure, Phillips became visibly agitated and began to cut off callers before they could elaborate on their questions. This resulted in a pattern of Phillips repeatedly telling callers to “change the subject” or “move on” when they were not asking questions in line with what Phillips was comfortable answering. The situation became worse when a passionate caller began to speak of her individual story which was deemed irrelevant by Phillips. After the caller attempted to explain the importance of her story in the grand scheme of things, Phillips abruptly told her to either change the subject or end her phone call. This kind of treatment of constituents is simply unacceptable. Democracy hinges upon open communication and dialogue between the people and their legislators, and when that line of communication is broken, the entire system collapses . Phillips’ approach to this town hall was short-sighted, and ultimately resulted in him “gaslighting” his constituents. While it may be difficult to address uncomfortable topics, the job of a good representative is to take on that responsibility and have difficult conversations with their constituents, not ignore their queries. Overall, Phillips’ town hall was a rather dismal affair. Attendees were left feeling church, unheard, and frustrated, all of which will likely mitigate future participation in town halls by New Hampshire constituents. Moving forward, we must remember to treat constituents with respect and courtesy and always keep an open dialogue alive. Dean Phillips’ recent town hall has left many New Hampshire constituents feeling as if they just got “gaslit”. The freshman democratic Congressman held a virtual town hall in Manchester recently in order to address the concerns of constituents, but it quickly descended into chaos. Phillips opened the town hall with a 30 minute speech outlining his policy views, specific to New Hampshire, and then proceeded to take questions from attendees. Unfortunately, shortly into the question and answer segment, Phillips began to be bombarded with questions that he was not prepared for—questions that went off-topic to issues that he was not able to provide answers to. Rather than handle the situation with grace and composure, Phillips became visibly agitated and began to cut off callers before they could elaborate on their questions. This resulted in a pattern of Phillips repeatedly telling callers to “change the subject” or “move on” when they were not asking questions in line with what Phillips was comfortable answering. The situation became worse when a passionate caller began to speak of her individual story which was deemed irrelevant by Phillips. After the caller attempted to explain the importance of her story in the grand scheme of things, Phillips abruptly told her to either change the subject or end her phone call. This kind of treatment of constituents is simply unacceptable. Democracy hinges upon open communication and dialogue between the people and their legislators, and when that line of communication is broken, the entire system collapses . Phillips’ approach to this town hall was short-sighted, and ultimately resulted in him “gaslighting” his constituents. While it may be difficult to address uncomfortable topics, the job of a good representative is to take on that responsibility and have difficult conversations with their constituents, not ignore their queries. Overall, Phillips’ town hall was a rather dismal affair. Attendees were left feeling church, unheard, and frustrated, all of which will likely mitigate future participation in town halls by New Hampshire constituents. Moving forward, we must remember to treat constituents with respect and courtesy and always keep an open dialogue alive.