Yuca Valley, California – When U.S. Rep. Jay Obernolte was a Big Bear Lake Republican, he tried to demand solidarity at his “Community Coffee” campaign, his audience screamed, twisted, calling him the Nazis.
“We are not in the liberal or conservative; we are not in the Republican or Democratic team. We are all playing for Team America.
Booth drowned him.
Obernolte told voters to call his office “when you have problems with the government.” A woman in the audience responded to the song, responding to the tune of the theme song of the Ghostbusters: “Who are you going to call? Fastists!”
The crowd was angry that Obernolte was over the Trump administration’s massive firing of federal workers. They yelled when he said he was happy that billionaire Elon Musk was in charge of the government’s Ministry of Efficiency (or Dogee).
When talking about Trump, they shouted, “No king! No king! No king!”
A solid and conservative scene, mainly in the rural area on the 23rd Mirroring in the community Over the past two weeks, the entire county, from California to Texas to Wisconsin and Georgia, has been prepared to tout the first month of the Trump administration’s achievements at the City Hall meeting.
Instead, many gatherings erupted in confrontation and blame, most of which focused on Trump’s power over Musk as the administration would nail federal employment, eliminating thousands of middle-class jobs, seemingly without regard to salary or services given to a given employee.
In the cut, the National Park Service Nearly 10% of the workforce Federal acquisitions and layoffs. Elimination efforts include rangers, wildlife researchers and maintenance staff, last weekend Prompt protest There are about 140 locations nationwide, including Joshua Tree National Park near the Yuca Valley.
Trump wrote on “Society of Truth” on Monday: “Republicans have refuted the Democrats’ carefully planned heritage town hall. Interview with CNNHouse Speaker Mike Johnson accused “paid protesters” and “paid protesters” who “democrats attend the incident early and fill seats.”
But in the town hall itself, and some speakers are identified as Democrats, Others confirm As a Republican. On February 22 Yucca Valley ActivitiesIt can be clearly seen from the interview that the audience includes many local residents. At least one wearing a Trump hat, some people would be upset by outspoken attendees.
Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte yelled in town hall in Yucca Valley on February 22 and met with Boos.
(Stacy Moore / Hi-Desert Star)
In a statement to The Times, Obernot’s office kept the Yucca Valley party down as “anomalous” and said he held six other gatherings in the area with “more constructive discussions.”
Although Yucca Valley “has some animation sounds,” many of the listeners “attend to the distraction rather than having effective conversations”, the statement read.
“Obernolte continued,” the statement continued, “insisted that our $36 trillion Treasury bonds are an existential threat to our country, and he supports efforts to address waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. ”
Obernolte Nine Republicans Members of the U.S. House of Representatives, more than 6 million Trump voters.
California returned to some of the most recent US last fall Competitive Congressional Competitiongiving the state a great role in determining the balance of power in the House. The Republican Party is one of the slimmer majority in history, with 218 seats, while the Democrats have 215 seats.
But their honeymoon is over as Republicans control two houses in Congress and the White House.
“They have photo operations. They have press releases. They spent 15 minutes on Fox or Talk Radio. Now it’s time to deliver, and there’s no reason not to deliver,” Bowler said.
The vast areas of Obernolte – spanning the Mojave Desert and the San Bernardino Mountains – include most of San Bernardino County and parts of Kern and Los Angeles County.
In recent years, the high desert towns around Joshua Tree have undergone fundamental changes. During the pandemic, urban residents and remote workers moved to the desert in search of more affordable housing and relaxing natural access. House prices soared. The property is converted to a vacation rental. The sticker read “Back to Los Angeles” on the bumper sticker on Highway 62 is a common sight through the main arteries of the Molongo Basin.
Voters registrations in the area are evenly distributed among Democrats and Republicans. But historically, the region is good for conservatives.
In November, Obernolte won re-election with 20 percentage points. San Bernardino and Kern counties, which account for 92% of the area, voted for Trump.
The area includes the Twenty-One Palm and the Army’s Marine Air Ground Combat Center. Irving National Training Center. It is home to thousands of veterans.
According to one of the poorest congressional districts in the state analyze The California Institute of Public Policy and the Center for Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University.
Many of the highest paid jobs in the area are positions in federal agencies. Its small town relies on tourism in Joshua Tree National Park.
Park staff confirmed to Times that last month at least six full-time staff members in the fee department, responsible for collecting entrance and camp fees and staffing visitor centers, were fired as part of the Trump administration’s cuts.
At his Yucca Valley party, Obernolte is full of questions about shooting at the park service Entering Medicaid and Supplementary nutrition assistance programprovide food assistance to low-income Americans.
Obernolte praised Musk, but told the audience that he did not agree to the Joshua tree cutting. “It will create a terrible experience for our visitors,” he said. “It will destroy our community.”
He praised the government Decide backtracking Thousands of temporary seasonal posts were canceled at the National Park Service after a loud public outcry. But the government has promised to fire about 1,000 trial park service workers (usually the first two years of their service) as part of a number of trial employees who will eliminate thousands of jobs.
Additionally, according to an internal email sent to the park supervisor last month, More than 700 Throughout the year, NPA employees are participating in the federal acquisition program that the Trump administration pushes to cut federal workforce.
Asked about possible cuts to social security networks, Obernot said: “The plan has caused a lot of anxiety and shock to the plan, and everyone relies on social security like Medicare, such as Medicaid.”
“I want to keep it clear. No one talks about the benefits of reducing the benefits of those who rely on them,” he said.
The crowd shouted, “Scammer! Liar!”
Keith Hamm, a holiday rental host and registered Democrat living in Joshua Tree, was one of the people who attended the event. He said he had been expecting a sleepy thing and he would be one of the few who had objections. But, he said, he began to hear “a lot of accumulation” and expected the meeting could be controversial.
“To be honest, that’s more than I expected,” Hamm said, describing the area as a place of “deep poverty” where many people rely on food welfare and foundations.
“It’s frustrating to face someone like Jay. He’s completely lost contact with the constituency,” he said of Obernolte.
Joseph Candelaria, a 38-year-old musician and lifelong resident of Twenty-Five Palm, broke out in a community with federal cuts and potentially cuts of food benefits, which has caused public problems in what he has called “poverty, underresourced.”
“You talk about how the military is not paying enough. So, let’s take the snapshots? Do you know who is using the snapshot benefits? Military community, because we are not paying enough,” Candelaria said.
Candelaria said in an interview that the outcry at the event was real, with locals everywhere in the room, and he was angry at the Republican leader’s attempt to refute the counterattack in the Red Area.
“I think, historically, this community has been exploited because we are good people. We are kind. But we are not stupid,” he said.
Candelaria said he was not registered with any major political party, but he often participated in local political activities and had never seen such controversiality.
He said to his public comment: “I’ve been told that I’ve cheated too much.”
Not everyone in every crowd was angry in the first few weeks under the new Trump administration. As Obernolte spoke, many attendees nodded or applauded quietly.
Days after the event, Joshua Tree resident Brad Irwin, wearing a shabby Trump 2024 hat, was his approval when he left the port cargo in the Yucca Valley. Irwin, 75, said he had not attended Obernolte’s events, but was happy to see Doge move so quickly.
“I wake up every morning and say, ‘Thank you for President Trump,’” said Irving, who has been in the grocery business for 35 years. “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to figure out the country economically and if we don’t, we’re done.”
When asked about Joshua Tree’s layoffs, Irving described himself as an “outdoor man” who loves national parks but believes government agencies need better oversight.
“How many people in the government are working when it is supposed to work on porn sites?” he said. “How many people change the sex drive when they should be really working?”
Branson-Potts reported on Los Angeles; Plevin reported on Yucca Valley.
This article is part of the Times Equity Reporting Plan,,,,, Depend on James Irving FoundationExplore the challenges faced by low-income workers and their efforts to solve them California’s economic divide.
