U.S. Rep. Duncan rejects town hall requests, citing extremists

Knoxville residents are planning a demonstration after U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr. rejected requests for a town hall with a letter denouncing the public meetings as "shouting opportunities for extremists, kooks and radicals."

Duncan, a Republican who has represented Tennessee's Knoxville-based 2nd Congressional District since 1988, began the letter by saying he has "often been described as one of the most accessible members of Congress in this Country" before touting his record of engaging with constituents.

Duncan wrote that he prefers one-on-one meetings because people talk more openly and are "more polite and civil." Due to the current "anger in politics," Duncan said he believes a town hall meeting "would very quickly turn into shouting opportunities for extremists, kooks and radicals."

"Also, I do not intend to give more publicity to those on the far left who have so much hatred, anger and frustration in them," he wrote. "I have never seen so many sore losers as there are today."

Read more: http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/06/us-rep-jimmy-duncan-rejects-town-hall-requests-citing-extremists-kooks/97525388/