Confronted by a woman about his environmental record, Republican Sen. Rob Portman couldn’t get away fast enough.
We’ve seen it before. Republican Senators and Representatives fleeing from their own constituents when confronted with questions they would rather not answer.
Who can forget the time former Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann was captured on video fleeing the questions of CNN reporter Dana Bash back in March of 2013? Bash was questioning Bachmann about false claims she made regarding President Obama’s “lavish” lifestyle.
Paul Ryan was met by angry protesters and hecklers who were chanting “Paul Ryan he’s the worst, he puts corporate interests first,” at a 2011 Labor Day parade in Janesville, Wisconsin, his home town. Ryan was captured on video condescendingly attempting to avoid their questions about jobs creation by offering them some candy.
Republicans have found themselves unwelcome in their home states in recent months due to their efforts to repeal Obama’s signature health care bill the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. Indeed, it has reached the point that several Republican Senators and Representatives are no longer hosting town hall meetings.
Senator Rob Portman of Ohio is one such Republican who currently refuses to meet constituents in a town hall setting.
This didn’t stop Meryl Neiman from confronting him about his environmental record at the Ohio State Fair in Columbus on Friday.
As the Huffington Post reports,
Neiman, an entrepreneur and mother of two, confronted Portman about the Regulatory Accountability Act, which environmentalists say would thwart rules to protect public health and wildlife by making it easier for companies to hinder regulations in costly lawsuits.
In a video posted to Facebook by the progressive group Indivisible Columbus District 3, Neiman follows Portman as he exits a building, asking him about the bill and why people should support a bill that could cause damage to the environment and public health.
Neiman can be heard in the video asking Portman about what he thinks it means to someone like her who has concerns about what kind of world her children will grow up in as a result of that act.
The audio becomes muffled as Portman climbs into a golf cart, but he can be clearly heard muttering something about a “cost-benefit analysis.”
“Well then could you stop taking money from the fossil fuel industry?” Neiman asks, adding: “Because then I’d feel more comfortable that you’re doing it for the right reasons.”
Portman can be seen grinning as his driver backs the golf cart away from the woman and speeds away.
You can watch it all in the clip, below. Indivisible Columbus District 3 included the following text with the video:
Senator Rob Portman’s #LicensetoPollute bill could harm us by rigging the system for corporations, polluters, and big pharmaceutical companies responsible for the opioid crisis. Today, we partnered with DivestOhio and Sunrise Movement and demanded he explain why he values his donors’ profits over our health. Why won’t Portman pledge to stop taking money from the fossil fuel industry? #ShineALight #ShameOnPortman
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