By Matthew Holloway |
In his first town hall upon returning to Arizona from his visit to Iowa, where he was booed mercilessly, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego was hosted by the Apache Junction Public Library on Monday. During the townhall, he spoke with veterans following a tour of the Cobre Valley Regional Medical Center in Globe.
According to AZCentral, Gallego was met with natural questions on his presidential aspirations, typically indicated by Senators taking jaunts to Iowa and New Hampshire, to which the Phoenix Democrat offered a boilerplate answer: “We’ve got to focus on Arizona.”
When pressed by a reporter, Gallego replied, “There is no presidential priority at all. The only priority is to make sure I’m doing the best for the state. Sometimes that might mean going to get help from other states, but the most important thing is delivering for us here.”
However, when confronted with more difficult questions, Gallego seemed less willing to engage, as indicated in video footage from X commentator ‘Veterans of Arizona.’
In a statement to AZ Free News, ‘Veterans for Arizona’ described his contentious interaction with the Senator saying, “I wanted to ask [S]enator Gallego some questions on his policies. When Ruben started going off about him helping veterans through the [PACT] Act….I realized he wasn’t going to call on me[,] so I decided to tell him that we couldn’t trust him because he’s previously voted against fully funding the VA[.]”
He asked, “[W]hy did he vote against Sam Brown’s nomination[?] [A]nd why wouldn’t he debate Kari Lake[?]”
“I was rushing these questions because his staff circled me and escorted me out,” he explained. “If Ruben wanted to make amends with vets he could’ve said: ‘[W]ait, what are your questions[?]’ and addressed each concern[,] but Ruben’s never been one for confrontation.”
In the Arizona Republic’s reporting, Gallego is described as “seem[ing] to embrace,” the “live-wire quality,” of engaging with the public, however, the prompt removal of ‘Veterans for Arizona’ by the Senator’s staffers seems to belie that notion. The Senator didn’t engage with the concerned veteran, but instead blithely ignored his questions as the man was unceremoniously ousted from the Apache Junction Library’s Opal Room.
Perhaps, after the embarrassing showing in Iowa, Gallego is less inclined to address the more aggressive discourse of his constituents.
Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
