Audio: Man Who Pushed Cramer at Town Hall Apologizes, Criticizes Hoeven and Heitkamp for Not Holding Events
Things got ugly at Congressman Kevin Cramer’s town hall in Mandan yesterday. The video I posted yesterday didn’t really catch the full scope of the encounter. This angle was much better.
A man named Mike Quinn from Hazen, a former legislative candidate for the Democrats in District 33, got angry with Cramer over some of his answers at the event. So much so that another attendee grabbed Quinn and was escorted out by police. But shortly after that Quinn himself tried to shove some money down the shirt of the Congressman, earning his own ejection.
But Quinn now regrets his actions. I had both him and Cramer on my radio show today.
[mks_pullquote align=”right” width=”300″ size=”24″ bg_color=”#ffffff” txt_color=”#000000″]”I would like to thank him because he is courageous for having these town halls,” Quinn said, adding that Cramer “sets an example for Heitkamp and Hoeven.”[/mks_pullquote]
“I would like to thank him because he is courageous for having these town halls,” Quinn said, adding that Cramer “sets an example for Heitkamp and Hoeven.”
The latter of those two doesn’t really hold town hall events. The former holds them rarely, but only in tightly controlled circumstances which inhibits any sort of free flowing discourse.
“I would also like to apologize to him,” Quinn said of Cramer. “It was inappropriate.”
“I never felt threatened by Mike,” Cramer said in response. As you can see in the video of the altercation from yesterday Cramer did tell Quinn “that’s enough, buddy” when he put the money in his collar. But Cramer was understanding of the incident during our interview.
“We don’t celebrate our right to offend each other nearly enough,” he said.
I asked Cramer if he’s considering adding more security at his town hall events. “No not really,” he said. He only regretted that some people left the Mandan event early, apparently because of the ruckus.
“Some said they wanted to speak up but were afraid,” Cramer said. “That’s a shame.”
Here’s audio of the interview:
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