Vet who was escorted out of a town hall after ranting at NC Republican speaks out: ‘I wasn’t going to be silenced’
‘I earned those benefits as well as my fellow veterans —I watched my friends die in war, I bled for my country,’ the veteran said
A 54-year-old veteran who was escorted out of a town hall meeting following a shouting match with a North Carolina congressman stood by his decision to speak out, saying he “wasn’t going to be silenced,” according to a report.
During a town hall meeting at Ferguson Auditorium in Asheville Thursday, Jay Carey confronted Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards on his support for President Donald Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs and potential changes to Social Security, WLOS reported.
“Do your job!” Carey can be heard shouting at Edwards, interrupting his opening remarks, in the now-viral video. “I’m a veteran and you don’t give a f*** about me!” The crowd cheered and clapped as Carey was escorted out of the forum.
When the heckling began, Edwards said into his microphone: “And you wonder why folks don’t want to do town halls anymore?”
"I was seeing red," Carey told the outlet, reflecting on his outburst. "I was angry, and I wasn't going to be silenced."
He took issue with the Trump administration’s potential cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
"Social Security is the lifeblood of this country; veterans are the lifeblood of this country," the veteran said.
"I spent over 20 years fighting for this country," Carey continued. "I earned those benefits as well as my fellow veterans —I watched my friends die in war, I bled for my country."
The veteran told WLOS that he had lost all of his belonging to Hurricane Helene, and that he doesn’t believe he is getting the support he deserves.
Trump has insisted he’s “not going to touch Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid,” but Musk, a White House senior adviser and Department of Government Efficiency boss, last week suggested he was considering targeting the Social Security Administration for future cuts.
“Most of the federal spending is entitlements,” he told Fox Business Network. “That’s the big one to eliminate.” Musk has also previously branded the Social Security Administration as the “biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”
The Department of Veterans Affairs is expecting to slash its workforce by 15 percent, or 80,000 workers, an internal memo from earlier this month laid out. Doug Collins, the department’s secretary, said in a video that the VA “has been a punching bag among veterans, Congress and the media for decades,” adding that many “have been asking for a more efficient, accountable and transparent” for years.
At the town hall, Carey also accused Rep. Edwards of being a “puppet.”
“He's not thinking for himself," the veteran said. "He is doing exactly what Trump says; he's not making any decisions. He can't make any decisions; he's afraid too — he's a coward."
Speaking to CNN over the weekend after the the heated town hall, Congressman Edwards said he "enjoyed the lively conversation.” He added: "I believe it's part of the democratic process, even though it might be uncomfortable from time-to-time, I think town halls are necessary.”
VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz said in a statement to The Independent: “We regret when anyone loses their job, and its extraordinarily difficult for department leaders to make those types of decisions. But the federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people. At VA, we are focused on serving veterans better than ever before, and doing so requires changing and improving the organization.”
He added that employees who were laid off were not in “mission-critical positions,” like doctors, nurses and claims processors, and opted to turn down the “Fork in the Road” offer. Supervisors of terminated employees were also given the ability to request that employees be exempted from probationary removal.
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