GOP congressman storms out of interview after reporter asks about screening town hall attendees

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Rep. Rod Blum speaks in Iowa in 2015.

Rep. Rod Blum stormed out of an interview with Iowa television station KCRG-TV9 after two minutes when a reporter asked about his policy of making town hall attendees show IDs to prove they live in his district.

In an interview on Monday, investigative reporter Josh Scheinblum asked Blum a total of three questions about why he chose to make attendees show IDs, pointing out that critics would say the decisions he made impacted other Iowans.

“I don’t represent all Iowans,” Blum said. “I represent the first district of Iowa. That’d be like saying, ‘shouldn’t I be able to — even though I live in Dubuque — vote in Iowa City? Because I’d like to vote in that district instead.'”

“Would you still take donations from a Republican in Iowa City?” Scheinblum asked.

The congressman then stood up, and began to take off his microphone.

“This is ridiculous. He’s going to sit here and just badger me,” Blum said.

“We just asked why you wanted to do the interview,” Scheinblum said. “That was it.”

Scheinblum attempted to convince the congressman to stay, pointing out that the interview just began. Blum, followed by a group of children KCRG-TV9 said he asked be at the interview, was unconvinced.

“Unbelievable,” he said, repeating Scheinblum’s question. “‘Would you take donations from a Republican?'”

Monday’s interview wasn’t the only grilling Blum faced that day.

Later on Monday, constituents at the town hall criticized his decision to support President Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan’s healthcare bill. Multiple constituents slammed the congressman for supporting the bill before its impact was officially measured and knocked its weakening of rules mandating insurers cover preexisting conditions.

Watch the clip below, via CNN:

Congressman abruptly storms out of TV interview after he was challenged on town hall attendance https://t.co/728oYCqidJ http://pic.twitter.com/Gh6vSF5jPC

— CNN (@CNN) May 9, 2017