Anger at the Trump administration, the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” and Israel’s war in Gaza dominated a two-hour town hall that US Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Atlanta) and Atlanta City Councilmember Andrea Boone co-hosted on Thursday night.
Around 300 Atlantans filled the pews at Jackson Memorial Baptist Church in Fairburn Heights to hear from Williams and Boone, along with Fulton County Commissioners Marvin Arrington Jr. and Dana Barrett, and several Democratic state legislators.
“The Trump administration is telling our students to dream smaller. It’s telling our families to make smaller portions [of food], and making our medical debts larger. Why? All for the sake of — you guessed it — tax cuts to billionaires,” said Williams, who represents Georgia’s 5th Congressional District.
Williams was flanked by posters displaying how the legislation’s deep cuts to social welfare programs will affect Georgians: An estimated 651,540 Georgians will lose health care coverage, 154,000 will lose federal food assistance, and 180,913 students will have their Pell grants cut, according to the House Democratic Committee on the Budget. Trump signed the spending and tax cut bill into law on July 4, but these widely unpopular funding cuts won’t take effect until after next year’s midterm elections.
Pushback on Palestine
The crowd applauded Williams for her criticism of President Donald Trump, but tension arose when she turned to Israel’s war in Gaza. Several constituents shouted over her for calling it a “conflict,” instead of a genocide.
“I am continuing to monitor the ongoing conflict and work with my colleagues to ensure, to the best of our ability, that the relief so badly needed is actually getting into the hands of the children and families, the civilians living in Palestine,” Williams said.
“Genocide!” one constituent yelled out. “You take AIPAC money!” another shouted, referring to the pro-Israel lobbying group. Williams’s campaign received over $91,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and affiliated individuals for her 2024 race, according to OpenSecrets — about 9.2% of her total fundraising.
Williams faced more heckling when Megan Castro — the wife of her 2026 Democratic primary challenger, Andres Castro — asked her: “How do you reconcile taking money from an apartheid government committing genocide, while representing a district that should be a leader in protecting people’s civil and human rights?”
Williams defended her campaign contributions and declined to call the war a genocide, emphasizing instead the need to address the humanitarian catastrophe. Jawahir Kamil, a prominent Palestinian activist, interrupted, shouting: “It’s a genocide! More than 50,000 Palestinian children are killed and starved to death!” According to a May 27 UNICEF report, over 50,000 children had been killed or injured since October 2023.
Since March, Israel has sharply blocked food and other aid to Gaza, creating famine conditions. For her efforts to avert that, Williams cited a May 8 letter that she co-signed to the Israeli ambassador, asking for a briefing on Israel’s humanitarian aid delivery plans, two months into its total aid blockade. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) subsequently took over aid distribution. Since May 27, at least 1,700 people seeking aid have been killed, most near GHF sites.
Despite the heated criticism from some attendees, no one was removed or arrested, and questions were not pre-screened — unlike for GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s April town hall in Acworth.
What can Democrats even do?
Several constituents raised fears that Trump might federalize the Georgia National Guard and deploy troops to Atlanta, citing the president’s similar actions in Washington D.C. this week and Los Angeles in June.
“Y’all, it could be Atlanta — and we cannot sit back and pretend as if we’re just exempt from this conversation,” Williams replied. “We got to be ready to push back,” she said.
As with many of the Trump administration’s actions, the vexing question for Democrats remains: Push back how?
Williams offered little in response, other than to say Democrats need to win the midterm elections, so they can wrest control of Congress from the Republicans. “We have to be real: The math is the math, and we don’t have the votes,” she said.
Glad she is getting pushback for being bought by AIPAC and supporting the genocide of Palestinians