U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-50th District) greeted a loud, and at times, rowdy crowd inside the Ramona Main Stage Saturday morning, for his first public forum since President Donald Trump took office.
50th congressional district constituents arrived as early as 6 a.m. to secure a seat inside for the 90 minute question and answer session.
The Main Stage, located on Main Street in the heart of Ramona, supports a crowd of only around 300 people, which meant hundreds of people wanting to get inside could not.
Critics and supporters lined the streets outside with signs showing their differences of political opinions leading to numerous arguments, but the event remained peaceful overall according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Hunter took the stage shortly after 10 a.m. immediately praising President Trump.
"I'm ecstatic to have Donald Trump as President" said Hunter prompting a loud mixture of cheers and boos from the crowd.
Conservatives and liberals hoping to hear more about the representative's view on everything from military to immigration submitted questions, which were then dumped into a giant tub and pulled randomly by a volunteer.
Local
Juanita Takeda of Escondido arrived around 6 am to get a front row seat with hopes of getting Hunter's attention on health care.
"Everybody is not going to get covered, they don't know how much it costs yet," she said.
Hunter told the crowd 'everyone who wants coverage will be covered' and bashed Obamacare as a flawed product of big government.
"Frankly, Obamacare is destroying itself" said Hunter. "I would like a full 100% repeal. 100 percent."
Hunter promised to hold another similar town hall in a larger venue, but when pressed by a woman upset with the small venue, would not commit to doing it by summer.
