U.S. Military veteran Jay Carey — who went viral for telling Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.) he didn’t give a “fuck” about him — defended hurling expletives at a fiery city corridor occasion in North Carolina this week.
“I feel it was crucial,” mentioned Carey, a Democrat who served within the navy for over 20 years, in an interview shared by Asheville Watchdog on Friday.
“I feel it was the one method to actually get his consideration, and it was the power that I need to see from everybody — to face up and to talk again to the representatives that aren’t serving us, as is their obligation.”
Carey — who ran for Edwards’ congressional seat and lost in the Democratic primary in 2022 — shouted, “do your job,” “you’re mendacity” and “fuck you” at Edwards amongst a sea of his constituents outraged over their consultant’s assist for cuts beneath President Donald Trump.
The veteran drew applause as he was escorted out of the auditorium and his remarks later went viral, garnering tens of thousands of likes and views on social media.
The occasion was one in every of plenty of contentious town halls the place constituents have pushed again at Republicans in latest weeks.
When Edwards was later requested how he justifies cuts on the Department of Veterans Affairs, he claimed there haven’t been cuts to VA workers and confused that it’s not the “intent” of Trump, Congress or Elon Musk to eradicate jobs that instantly present providers to veterans.
In February, the VA fired over 1,000 probationary workers on the division.
The Trump administration additionally plans to chop greater than 80,000 jobs on the VA, the place veterans make up 25% of the workforce, per an internal memo detailed by The Associated Press final week.
On Friday, about 3,000 folks protested the cuts— which have additionally impacted veterans working in different components of the federal authorities — in Washington, D.C. Demonstrators questioned why the president is “abandoning his dedication” to veterans, military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported.
Carey informed the Asheville Watchdog that he doesn’t remorse his selection of phrases for Edwards.
“I do really feel that the times of being cordial and respectful are over, as a result of we’re not being revered,” Carey mentioned.
“He’s disrespecting us by doing what he’s doing to our neighborhood as a complete.”
